An infamous Tennessee doctor who exchanged prescription opiates for sex and money will serve 20 years in federal prison, according to a release by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Jeffrey Young Jr. of Jackson, known as the “Rock Doc,” will begin serving his time immediately.
“The self-proclaimed ‘Rock Doc’ abused the power of the prescription pad to supply his small community with hundreds of thousands of doses of highly addictive prescription opioids to obtain money, notoriety, and sexual favors,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division in the release. “The defendant’s conduct endangered his patients and the community as a whole. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of this criminal conduct and the department’s commitment to protecting communities from the scourge of illegally prescribed drugs.”
At trial, a jury heard that Young (pictured above), through his medical practice Preventagenix, prescribed more than 100,000 doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl into the small Jackson community. At one time, Young, using his alter ego “Rock Doc,” had a large social media platform dedicated to bragging about prescribing the drugs. He even produced a reality TV show pilot centered around that alter ego.
Director David Rausch of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said that his law enforcement team will prosecute those who misuse their authority to prescribe drugs.
“While we applaud the dedication of the overwhelming majority of medical providers, on occasion, a provider such as Mr. Young abuses his prescribing authority to serve self-interests and contribute to patient addiction and endangerment,” he said. “Alongside our valuable law enforcement partners, the healthcare community, and private citizens, the TBI stands committed to identifying, investigating, and bringing to justice those who seek to misuse their authority for personal gain or notoriety and put our community at risk.”
Meanwhile, the Tennessee General Assembly is working on a bill that would punish drug dealers who sell narcotics that result in the death of the user with murder.
SB 1754 would allow judges to sentence anyone selling a Schedule I or II drug, which includes opiates like fentanyl and heroin, to jail if those drugs are found to have caused an overdose death.
In 2021, there were 3,038 opioid deaths in Tennessee, accounting for 80 percent of all overdose deaths.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
