Tucson Doctor Indicted for Unlawfully Prescribing Opioids

TUCSON - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced a grand jury indicted Dr. David Alan Ruben, a medical doctor and board certified psychiatrist, on 26 felony charges, including Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices and Administration of Narcotic Drugs. The Tucson District Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Special Agents from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office investigated this case.

Dr. Ruben, 70, is the owner of Healthcare Southwest, a pain management medical clinic in Tucson. Pursuant to an Arizona Medical Board Order in February 2016, Dr. Ruben was prohibited from prescribing, administering, or dispensing any Schedule II controlled substance for two years. Despite the order, Dr. Ruben allegedly prescribed Hydrocodone and Oxycodone to 11 different patients on 25 separate occasions between September 2016 and March 2017.

Dr. Ruben’s medical license was suspended by the Arizona Medical Board effective April 06, 2017.

All defendants are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Assistant Attorney General Jarred McBride of the Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Section is prosecuting this case.