Doctor convicted of drug fraud Jury finds methadone clinic psychiatrist guilty on 58 counts

PORTLAND – A psychiatrist who founded a methadone clinic in Maine awaits sentencing after being convicted of 58 of the 68 counts against him in his prescription fraud trial.

A U.S. District Court jury on Thursday found Dr. Marc Shinderman guilty of writing prescriptions using the name and federal Drug Enforcement Agency number of the clinic’s medical director.

Shinderman, who was not licensed to write the prescriptions in Maine, testified that he thought the arrangement was acceptable.

Federal prosecutors, however, argued that Shinderman was violating the law and deceiving pharmacies.

Shinderman and two other psychiatrists founded the Center for Addiction Problems in Chicago before he came to Maine, where he started CAP Quality Care in Westbrook in 2001. It was the second methadone clinic in the Portland area.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Clark said the jury rejected Shinderman’s claims that he committed only minor offenses while providing legitimate medical help to his patients.

“The harm is to the system of regulation,” Clark said. “Every step in the closed system of distribution requires a Drug Enforcement Agency number, and the people expect accountability.”

Shinderman is considered an expert in addiction treatment and has a 30-year history of working with methadone, which is dispensed to addicts to curb their craving for opiates such as heroin.

Shinderman testified that after coming to Maine in 2001, he was the subject of a “witch hunt” by federal authorities who denied him a DEA registration number to write prescriptions in Maine.

The charges against him were not related to methadone, but rather to other medications that he prescribed to patients.

Shinderman faces up to five years in prison on each of the most serious charges and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.

“I’m clearly disappointed about the verdict, but I’m happy I had my day in court,” he said after the trial.