Incident 40189
Incident 40189
A Tennessee Physician, Two Florida Clinic Owners, and a Kentucky Man Convicted for Roles in Tennessee-Based Pill Mill Operation
A Tennessee doctor, two clinic owners from the Miami, FL area, and a Woodbine, KY man were convicted today by a federal jury in London on oxycodone-trafficking charges. Three defendants were also convicted of multiple counts of money laundering.
After three days of deliberations following a four-week trial, the jury convicted Timothy Gowder, 71, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Anwar Mithavayani, 55, and Pete Tyndale, 47, clinic owners from Florida, of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and oxymorphone. James Bradley Combs, 41, from Woodbine, Kentucky, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute oxycodone.
According to testimony at trial, Gowder and the clinic owners worked together to run an illicit pain clinic near Chattanooga, Tennessee, called Tennessee Pain Institute (or “TPI”), which drug addicts and drug traffickers in Kentucky and elsewhere used as their supplier. The evidence further revealed that, after the Tennessee Department of Health investigated TPI’s doctors and federal law enforcement executed a search warrant at TPI, clinic owners Tyndale and Mithavayani opened a new pain clinic in North Carolina to cater to the same Kentucky population.
Approximate date(s) of the diversion:
05/01/2017
Where the Diversion Occurred:
Tennessee Pain Institute
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Type of Healthcare Facility:
Pain Clinic
Person Diverting:
Timothy Gowder
Profession of the person diverting:
Physician or Medical Doctor (MD)
Has the incident been reported?
e.g. to local law enforcement, county board of health, state licensure board, and/or federal DEA or FDA authorities?
Yes
To whom has the incident been reported?
Local Law Enforcement, , and/or federal DEA or FDA authorities?
