Memphis psychiatrist Michael Patterson guilty on prescription drug charges

May 7, 2012

A former Memphis-area doctor with a history of professional violations has pleaded guilty to federal charges of unlawfully distributing prescription drugs.

Michael A. Patterson, whose license was revoked in March of last year, was indicted in November on 38 counts of improperly distributing drugs including Oxycontin, Percocet, Adderall, Lortab, Vicoprofen and Xanax.

Patterson, who operated out of Bartlett Psychiatric Center at 3189 Kirby-Whitten, pleaded guilty to two counts Wednesday alleging that he unlawfully distributed 90 oxycodone or Oxycontin tablets by writing prescriptions for no legitimate medical purpose.

That count carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

Patterson also pleaded guilty to unlawfully distributing 60 hydrocodone, also known as Lortab or Vicoprofen. That count carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

He will be sentenced Aug. 17 by U.S. Dist. Judge Jon McCalla.

Patterson, who began his practice in 1977, had his state medical license revoked in 1994 for six years for drug violations. In 2008 he was placed on probation for failing to follow monitoring guidelines. His license was again revoked in March of last year for falling back into drug dependency.

Last September federal prosecutors won a default judgment after $5,676 was seized in a December raid by a Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force at Patterson's home at 2133 Tabor Court in Germantown.

The money was seized as proceeds of illegal narcotics trafficking.

The raid came after a yearlong investigation involving confidential informants and surveillance operations in which authorities determined that Patterson was illegally prescribing prescriptions for money and sex, court records show.

Source: Lawrence Buser, "Doctor pleads guilty in prescribing drugs," Commercial Appeal, May 4, 2012.