The camera follows Young as he treats patients, talks on a local radio station, dances with women at a club, and brags about drinking. Khazan: This is Tanya Ballard. His Rock Doc persona helped him connect with patients who might never have felt comfortable in a traditional doctors office. Khazan: So Ive written a million stories about this. And people in the pilot gave testimonials saying as much. As the nursing boards investigation of Young inched along, another agency launched its own probe into the Rock Doc. (Plucky yet funky music plays. Khazan: Jeff had been good to Tanya in the clinic, which was an experience that she didnt usually have with doctors. Though Young claimed that he also fired drug-seeking patients, Gutgsell testified in a deposition that he would meet some patients after hours and write them prescriptions anyway. Rudins lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Its joined at points by a line of harmony played on a synthesizer.). Employees I spoke with said he eventually was seeing 50 to 85 patients a day, compared with about 20 for the average doctor, and most of them seemed to be on opioids. He decked out PreventaGenix with psychedelic artwork and set the stereo to loud rock. Doctors, in theory, would only prescribe to people who needed the drugs and would monitor patients so they wouldnt get addicted. The Experiment is a co-production of The Atlantic and WNYC Studios. (The two clap each others backs in a half-hug.). (Green, who has since cut ties with Young, would not comment on this when I reached him, but he told the Sun that he asked another officer to look up the information.). He exhibited a certain tenderness as he filled syringes and sutured skin. Once his colleagues were out of the business, Young began crafting a persona based around rock music and hard living. Updated at 10:28 p.m. Listen to the trailer for Holy Week. We wont know if Young is guilty of everything the government says he is, or how much additional time, if any, he will serve, until later this year. But it seemed like she wasnt the only one getting pain meds from the Rock Doc. Khazan: I talked to many of Jeffs patients. And if you want to help other people discover the show, share it online with the hashtag #TheExperimentPodcast, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. This episode was reported by Olga Khazan and produced by Alvin Melathe. I cant say for sure what the right course of treatment for LaRhonda was, and where opioids fit into that. 40 members in the TDBauto community. The DEA raided Jeffs clinic and seized all of his computers and thousands of doses of the opioid hydrocodone. There is a friendliness, too, that one associates with the South. Young was by no means nationally or even regionally known. Young: (Just after another person laughs.) (Topix has since been shut down.) Khazan: Ive talked to a lot of patients over the years who feel very uncomfortable around their doctors. Weeks after the indictment made national news, the clinic was packed with people coming and going, one woman who worked in a building with a view of the parking lot told me. Everybody pay fucking attention worldwide because Im about to save this motherfuckers lifelive on Periscope broadcast! The men each contributed $40,000 to the endeavor. Branding himself as the "Rock Doc," he flooded his social media accounts with images of a party-loving lifestyle, vitriol for his "haters" and even a pilot episode for a reality TV show . In the past two decades, overdoses involving prescription opioids have killed more than 232,000 peoplethe population of Jackson several times overand the major players in the epidemic are finally being held to account. The daughter, Melody, actually works in her dad's vet clinic. Young, 43, a Tennessee nurse practitioner who called himself 'Rock Doc' and once piloted . Young neither admits nor denies the following allegations, Tracy Alcock, a lawyer with the state health department, said at the hearing, but he acknowledges that the departments proof would show the following: From August 2013 to November 2016, Young prescribed controlled substances in amounts and for durations that were not medically necessary, advisable, or justified for a diagnosed condition. The board put his license on probation for two years, during which time he could not prescribe certain Schedule II or Schedule III controlled substances, including drugs such as oxycodone, fentanyl, Vicodin, and Adderall. Editing by Katherine Wells, Julia Longoria, and Denise Wills. Like many actual rock stars, he flamed out on his own extravagant lifestyle. (Four years later, the health department received a complaint about this testosterone sideline, but the complaint was never assigned to an investigator, according to Pickering.) And I said, And they say that youre trading sex for medication. He was like, You know, these motherfuckers lie all the damn time. [Chuckles.] Young: (Serious, and a little angry.) A woman Ill call Stephanie developed a friendship with Young a few years ago when she was regularly seeing him for swelling in her throat. This social-media stardom appears to have helped inoculate him against concerns that his loose approach to medicine could harm anyone. Khazan: And sometimes theyd even ask their followers and fans to back them up. Young would continue to prescribe drugs there for two more years. This is a bunch of bull crap, she said. The resulting videos are typical scenes from a medical practicepeople donning gloves, waiting in chairsspliced together over a heavy-metal soundtrack. So hes a little out there. She texted Jeff. He raises a glass filled with red wine, as if in a toast. At least 50 women are thought to have come to the clinic to have sex with Young, some of them allegedly doing so in exchange for drugs, according to court testimony. This is just gonna be a little freeze spray first. (Fades under.). Its a small town; people talk. He blasted heavy metal at his private practice and filled his Instagram feed with photos of himself smoking cigars. He was found in his bedroom, where the ambulance service discovered an empty syringe under his pillow and empty pill bottles on his bedside table that had been filled that month. (Somber, reflective droning notes play up. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. They do not have serious medical side effects. Five other medical providers, just in Jackson, were indicted too. He gave Young total control over what was recorded. Youngs second marriage was already in trouble by the time PreventaGenix launched, and after his divorce he quickly found new girlfriends. Some sought counseling, slept under their beds, or carried guns. It feels claustrophobic.). Young put his name behind charity projects around town, took health insurance, and offered discounts for people who otherwise couldnt afford care. What a great, great, great, great song! Furthermore, Dr. Young along with his wife and daughter Melody works at his clinic. I accept all insurance, he told her. Yeah, thats prettythats very distressing. Ballard: When it comes to the high-society people, like the pharmacists and these other doctors that were out to get money out of their patientsJeff didnt care about the money. Make and Model: The only Billboard Hot 100 entry for new wave greats The Cars with an automotive title to match their band name . An obese man explains that Young helped him with his swollen leg. His vision was, evidently, to one day launch a reality series of the same name. Ultimately, what hastened Youngs downfall is that some of the female patients asking him for drugs were undercover officers. If a patient would text him a compliment, he would blast it all over Facebook, one former employee told me. I mean, he had his doctors lab coat on. (The music changes tone, becoming a little more up-tempo and treble-heavy.). Jeffrey Youngs patients say he helped them like nobody else could, but prosecutors indicted him following a huge painkiller bust. Some of his patients were police officers whom he would occasionally ask for favors. Of the women who returned my calls, none wanted to speak on the record under her real name, but all denied that Young had sexually abused them. Khazan: But she did remember this one hint shed had that something might be wrong in Jeffs office. [Khazan laughs, then Calles emphasizes each word that follows.] We put out calls and emails to dozens of Jeff Youngs patients. Jeff immediately sees that he is inyou know, hes in pretty bad shape. Khazan: Or stitch someone up after they cut themselves on a wine glass. He even convinced her to get weight-loss surgery. Another said, I was thinking of you today and how much you have helped me.. Khazan: Like, for example, here he is sniffing a pair of womens underwear with his sidekick, a friend named Kevin. Longoria: Opioids would be a new kind of painkiller to treat not just acute pain after an event like a surgery, but also pain that was more mundane, like chronic back pain that patients would complain about for years, but which doctors didnt have a clear cure for. In 2013, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that is usually accompanied by widespread pain and fatigue. The feds say Young . Naylor: And I remember him saying, Bring him to the office. At the beginning of the opioid epidemic, the autonomy of doctors to prescribe opioids was almost limitless, Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University professor who researches mental-health policy, says. In 2012, Young was working at a cardiology practice in Jackson when, with a consultant named Rich Reitz and cardiologist named Dharmesh Patel, he set up a side business giving talks to doctors about treating heart attacks and strokes. Looking for Jeff Young online? Hes a great doctor and never has he acted any way towards me but professional! one woman wrote. People who criticized Young swiftly became his enemies. Young and the others were among dozens of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists arrested across seven states, targets in the nations largest takedown of medical providers related to prescription opioids. Theres clear evidence that opioid manufacturers knew the drugs were addictive, yet they marketed them aggressively anyway. The story of how that doctor-patient communication broke downhundreds of thousands of timesis what Olga wanted to understand. In November 2016, the health department threatened to file charges against Young before the board of nursing. Why would you go to this doctor? Khazan: The Rock Doc, Jeff Young, has been in jail for almost two years, awaiting trial. Some people from the area said they had been harassed by Jeff and were afraid to speak out. She would get phone calls at her house, answer, and hear only strange whispers, she said in a court hearing. In 2011, the couple got in a fight while visiting Panama City Beach, Florida, and it was determined that Young did throw, or shove, Mrs. Young from the bed to the floor, the police report reads. On my trip, I strolled by a glass case near the federal courthouse that held a large Bible opened to the Gospel of John. The agency also searched Youngs cellphone. When PreventaGenix closed, Young was alleged to have failed to pay part of the unemployment insurance, federal tax withholdings, and final payroll for the clinic, according to a lawsuit filed by his former partners, Reitz and Patel. Julia Longoria: Over 20 years ago, pharmaceutical companies began to market the use of a magical pill. Tune in today! His lawyer also declined to answer any specific allegations. Another compared Young to a brother and called my reporting disrespectful.. She doesnt believe the allegations against him, and chalks them up to pure jealousy. Use the hashtag #TheExperimentPodcast, or write to us at theexperiment@theatlantic.com. Its gonna be a little cold, all right? Always have been for the patient. He wasnt in pain. Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts, The patients of the nurse practitioner and aspiring reality star Jeffrey Young say he helped them like nobody else could. Khazan: The way I first got to know Jeff Young was through videos he posted online. They dont want to touch you unless they have to touch you. Khazan: Anyone online could watch him, say, biopsy someones skin while listening to hard rock. Do you feel safe with Mr. Young being out there? a prosecutor on the case, Andrew Pennebaker, asked Pickering in court. (Fades under.). And Im like, Oh. [A beat.] Young was among them. To a different patient, he wrote, Come fuck me at my office right now., It is not illegal for doctors to have sex with their patients, though its considered unethical. Sometimes he wore scrubs, but most of the time he had on jeans, scrub tops, and a rock T-shirt, and a doctors jacket. Nurses are consistently rated higher in honesty and ethics than all other professions that Gallup asks about, by a wide margin, the polling firm said in a January 2020 survey. 14:46. Former employees speculated that he met the women in bars. So it was kind of significant to me. Young was late to the office almost every day. Throughout the opioid epidemic, a distressing number of doctors have seen a perverse opportunity in Americans suffering. In one scene, he and his best friend, a pharmaceutical representative named John Kevin Phillips, broadcast themselves on the video-streaming app Periscope. And the consequences might have gone beyond sexual abuse and addiction. Its hard to hear or believe that the only provider whod ever been kind to youwho made you comfortablehad been accused of abusing other patients. (The music crescendos before playing out into the break. Scott Deberry: And, you know, once you get around the tattoos and the way he talkscause he talks to you as if hes talking to you on the streets As long as he was going to take care of me and make me feel okay, or make me feel better, I had no problem with that. One employee recalled him sometimes being too drunk to see patients. (Fades under.). Yall partying in the office? [Chuckles.] But the allegations against him point toward what can be permissible, even celebrated, in a medical system built on profit. Though criminal cases against doctors and nurse practitioners like Young are still relatively rare, they are growing more common. LeAnn Naylor: I have not had a lot of positive interactions with doctors. Unnamed guest: I cant believe he stabbed himself (Fades under.). For the occasion of his detention hearing, Young wore a cerulean suit and a comb-over. I just asked him. When you got all kinds of money, said Jon Benjamin Sharp, a local musician who used to see Young around town, you got all kinds of friends. (Sharp made clear that he himself wasnt a fan of Youngs.) His wife also loves animals and works in the same clinic. You can find Olgas written reporting on the Rock Doc at our website: http://www.theatlantic.com/experiment. 0:04. (Young has denied that hed had sex with the patient who appeared to be drugged.). Dr. Jeff is married to Petra Mickova Petra though she is his second wife. (The drugmaker that is most often blamed for the epidemic doesnt agree with this assessment: Suggesting that activities that last occurred more than 16 years ago are responsible for todays complex and multifaceted opioid crisis is deeply flawed, a Purdue Pharma spokesperson, Robert Josephson, said in a statement to The New York Times for a story on this issue.). He would sometimes brag about having sex on his lunch break, sharing with his staff pictures of his conquests, three employees said. Actually very nice, yeah. Federal prosecutors who charged him in a massive opioid bust say he overprescribed painkillers, often for "money, notoriety, and sexual favors." Young's case provides a rare gl So what? I need you to find this fucker, he wrote, according to court testimony later reported by The Jackson Sun. Mellow and slow, it moves under the narration the way water moves through a stream.). Khazan: The Rock Doc, Jeff Young, has been in jail for almost two years, awaiting trial. It was just rocked out. One admitted that Young had flirted with her. And were gonna send a message. They called it the single largest crackdown on prescription opioids in history. I tried to reach out to women who Jeff was rumored to have exchanged drugs for sex with, but none of them wanted to talk on the record. Of course other doctors dont write as many prescriptions, the implication seemed to be. At this point, the people of Jackson knew the full extent of officials suspicions about Young. Through his attorney, he declined to comment on this and the other allegations in this story because of a gag order issued by the judge in the case.). Khazan: The videos were sarcastic and loose, intimate in their own bizarre way. He soon opened a new clinic, which he called GeneXis Health. Naylor: I said, Go see Jeff. And she said, Id rather not. And I said, Why? And she said, Because if I go see him, hell start texting me and calling me. And I said, And wanting to go out with you? And she said, Yeah. Thats the thing. She told me that Jeff took her pain seriously. He didnt mind saying a curse word or two.. Young wanted information about one of his enemies. You know that. (The case did not result in a conviction.) (Stephanie asked me to use a pseudonym for her because she doesnt want her name associated with the case.) Similarly, Young appeared to get the benefit of the doubt from virtually everyone. In an email to The Atlantic, Working said that when it came to Phillipss actions, there was no direct threat. Young: Even get all gussied up for tonight. He messaged at least five female patients about sex and filling prescriptions, prosecutors would later say, detailing the anonymized encounters in court. Young had also allegedly begun siphoning off $100 almost every day from the clinic for his personal expenses, according to former employees. 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