NYC DEA Defense Lawyers: The Investigation Started Years Ago – You Just Found Out Today
This is the reality – the DEA investigation into your practice started two years before you found out today. There's 150 risk factors in their algorithm, and your prescribing patterns have been flagged for months. 24 to 32 months. That's how long they've been building a case from your own records. Welcome to Spodek Law Group – we get it, and we've seen this exact scenario dozens of times.
Here's the reality – your medical records aren't medical records anymore. They're evidence. Every prescription you wrote is being analyzed against every other doctor in your specialty. The algorithm already has an opinion about you – and we know exactly how to fight back.
This is what nobody tells you: when the DEA contacts you, you're not at the beginning of an investigation. You're near the end. They've had years to prepare – you have days to respond. We fight these cases, we know what works, we've been here before.
How Your Own Prescription Records Become the Case Against You
The reality is this – the DEA dosent knock on your door because someone filed a complaint. They knock because an algorithm flagged you. We've seen it play out the same way, over and over.
There's 150 risk factors coded into their analytics system – and we know what triggers them. Schedule II prescriptions higher than your peers. Patients traveling farther than typical. Cash payments for opioids. Inventory discrepancies at pharmacies you've never even visited. The algorithm compares you to every doctor in your specialty, and statistical outliers get files opened. Period.
Heres the trap that most doctors dont see coming. Your PDMP data – the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program – isnt as protected as you think. HIPAA protects patient privacy from other doctors. It dosent protect your prescription records from the DEA. In most federal circuits, they dont even need a warrant.
The First Circuit ruled in Jonas that the "closely regulated industry" exception allows warrantless PDMP access. Oregon says different – but your not in Oregon. The practical reality is this: assume they have access to everything. We work to poke holes in how that evidence was gathered, but we start from the assumption that they've seen your entire prescribing history.
This is the number you need to understand: 150 factors analyzing your practice right now. You see patients. The DEA sees data points. We see this constantly – and we know how to fight it.
The Two Tracks That Destroy You Simultaneously
Heres what nobody explains about DEA investigations – there not one investigation. Their two. Administrative and criminal run in parallel, and the same evidence feeds both tracks. We get it, this is confusing. Let us break it down.
The administrative track uses a 51% standard. Thats it. Preponderance of evidence. More likely than not. Your practice can be destroyed on what amounts to a coin flip while your still presumed innocent of any crime. The criminal track requires beyond reasonable doubt – but by the time it matters, the administrative track has already taken your ability to prescribe.
This is how it works in practice. The DEA issues whats called an Immediate Suspension Order – an ISO. Under 21 USC 824, they can immediately suspend your registration if they find "imminent danger to public health." Thats a lower standard than you'd face in traffic court. And heres the kicker – theres no automatic hearing to challenge it. You have to fight for one while you cant prescribe.
July 2025: Operation Profit Over Patients. 51 arrests. 122 criminal charges. 93 administrative cases. Both tracks at once – we've seen this pattern before, and we know what it means. The same evidence that cant convict you criminally can still end your career administratively.
You think your fighting one battle. Your fighting two. We work to coordinate defense across both tracks – administrative and criminal – because loosing one makes loosing the other more likely. This is what we do, this is ALL we do.
The Mistakes That Destroy Doctors Before Trial
Your instinct right now is to cooperate. We get it – you've done nothing wrong, you want to explain, you think if they just understood your medical reasoning everything would be fine. This is dangerous thinking.
Heres the inversion nobody expects: cooperation without an attorney accelerates your destruction. Every word you say becomes evidence. The DEA agents at your door arent your collegues – their building a case. Explaining yourself is how cases get made. We've seen doctors talk themselves into indictments thinking they were clearing things up.
The second trap is voluntary surrender. The DEA may suggest you voluntarily surrender your registration – it sounds reasonable, like damage control. This is a trap. Voluntary surrender makes future reapplication nearly impossible. It dosent help your criminal case. It dosent prevent prosecution. Dr. Blatti surrendered his license after arrest. It didnt reduce his 15-year sentence – it just made his administrative situation permanant.
Never voluntarily surrender your DEA registration. This is critical – we cannot stress this enough. What feels like taking responsibility is actually permanant harm that follows you forever. We work to protect your registration while fighting both tracks simultaniously.
The third mistake is waiting. You think you have time to figure this out, to find the right attorney, to understand whats happening. The reality is – they've had 24 months to build their case. You have days to respond before the administrative track destroys what the criminal track hasnt touched. We fight, we dont quit, and we understand urgency matters.
Defense Strategies That Actually Work
Heres hope in the middle of all this – the Supreme Court changed DEA prosecution in 2022. Ruan v. United States established that prosecutors must prove you KNEW your prescribing was illegal. Not just that it was unusual. Not just that it was outside statistical norms. They have to prove you knew.
This is significant – we've used Ruan to defend doctors who were practicing what they believed was legitimate medicine. The standard of care defense matters now more than before. But heres the catch: Ruan helps the criminal track. The administrative track can still destroy you on that 51% standard while your building your Ruan defense.
We work to coordinate both tracks. We look to challenge how evidence was gathered – the warrantless PDMP access, the algorithmic flagging, the parallel investigations. We poke holes in their timeline, their documentation, their expert witnesses. We've learned a thing or two about how DEA builds these cases, and we know where the weaknesses are.
Your defense has to address both realities simultaniously. Medical standard of care and DEA's "legitimate medical purpose" sound similar – their not. The gap between them is where careers end. We work to close that gap, to show that your prescribing met both standards, to protect your registration while fighting criminal charges.
Todd Spodek built this firm on fighting cases others thought were unwinnable. We offer white-glove service because thats what you deserve when your entire career is at stake. We dont just take your case – we fight it like our own career depends on it.
Your Practice Is At Stake – The Time To Act Is Now
Lets be clear about whats happening. A statistical anomaly triggered an algorithm. A file opened. Your PDMP data got pulled. Surveilance began. An audit happened or is about to happen. An ISO may be next. Then indictment. Each step is evidence for the next – and your already several steps into this process.
The case has been building for years. You have days to respond. Call 212-300-5196.
You built this practice over decades – 12 years of training, years of helping patients in pain. Now the government is treating you like a drug dealer. We get it, we really do. This isnt fair. But fair dosent matter right now – what matters is fighting back correctly.
Dr. Blatti prescribed from a Dunkin Donuts parking lot after loosing his office space. He thought he was still practicing medicine. The DEA saw a statistical anomaly. Hes serving 15 years. Dr. Parasmo – 1.5 million pills. Dr. Lopez – $20 million street value. These are New York cases, your jurisdiction, your reality.
This is your future – your family, your career, your freedom. We fight these cases every day. We know the prosecutors, we know the process, we know whats at stake. The investigation started years ago. Your defense starts now.
Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. We're available 24/7 – because DEA investigations dont wait for business hours, and neither should your defense.
