A Victory For Prescribers: Government Now Subject To Heightened Standard Of Proof

• Published date: 02 August 2022
• Law Firm: Stites & Harbison PLLC
• Author: Ms Megan B. Barker

In a recent win for healthcare practitioners, the Supreme Court in Ruan v. United States held that, to convict individuals of violating the Controlled Substances Act, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner. The decision resolves a split among federal circuit courts. As a result of the split, healthcare practitioners were held to different standards related to the requisite state of mind for conviction under the CSA solely based on the location of their practice. In other words, a physician convicted in one state could have avoided conviction in another. The Supreme Court's adoption of a universal standard cures this injustice.

The CSA makes it a federal crime for any person "[e]xcept as authorized[,] . . . [to] knowingly or intentionally . . . manufacture...