PORTLAND – A drug-treatment doctor is on trial in federal court for allegedly handing out illegal prescriptions to patients at his wife’s methadone clinic in Westbrook.

Dr. Marc Shinderman faces charges of falsifying records and ignoring regulations designed to prevent diversion of methadone.

Shinderman, an outspoken advocate for the use of methadone to treat addictions, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Shinderman has operated methadone clinics in Maine and Illinois for more than 30 years and is well-known among those who treat addictions. His CAP Quality Care, a for-profit methadone clinic in Westbrook, was raided two years ago.

Shinderman’s jury trial before U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby was in its second day Wednesday.