Local Doctor Sentenced To Prison

By: Katie Hammond | WKRG-TV
Published: January 28, 2009

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PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a Panhandle doctor
to 24 years and four months in prison after convicting him of
over-prescribing narcotics including morphine, oxycodone and
fentanyl.
Dr. Robert L. Ignasiak Jr. was also fined $1 million for health
care fraud at his Freeport Medical Clinic.
Prosecutors told jurors he caused patients to become addicted to
the drugs by prescribing them without medical necessity and that he
prescribed narcotics to known drug addicts.
Medical examiners testified that several patients died in part
because of the drugs.
Barry Beroset, an attorney for Ignasiak, said the conviction
would be appealed.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)