Pennsylvania Psychiatrist Roy Monsour Indicted on Federal Drug Charges

February 10, 2020

A Ligonier doctor is under indictment in federal court on a felony conspiracy count related to the illegal distribution of two obesity treatment drugs from 2017 to 2019, and the U.S. attorney’s office has moved to seize his medical license.

Dr. Roy Monsour, a psychiatrist in his mid 60s, appeared briefly Thursday before a U.S. magistrate judge to enter a not guilty plea. He was released on a $10,000 bond.

A federal grand jury said Dr. Monsour, who has been practicing since 1987, conspired with others to illegally dispense diethylpropion and phentermine hydrochloride. Both drugs are used to treat obesity.

The grand jury handed up the indictment on Jan. 16 under seal, and the case was unsealed yesterday.

A Westmoreland County jury found Monsour not guilty last year of three felony counts related to accusations from a girl who said he had improper sexual contact with her during a five-year period that ended in 2014. The girl was 14 at the time of the trial. Monsour claimed the child lied and contended she had personal reasons for concocting the allegations.

Dr. Monsour is a member of the family of doctors who started the Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, which closed in 2006 and has since been torn down. Dr. Monsour’s father Robert was one of four brothers who founded the hospital in 1958.

Dr. Monsour’s lawyer James Paulick, declined to comment on the indictment.

Source: “Ligonier psychiatrist indicted in drug conspiracy case,”  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 7, 2020. URL: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2020/02/07/dr-roy-monsour-ligonier-indicted-drug-conspiracy-case-monsour-medical-center-jeannette/stories/202002070097