Opinion ID: 4524736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: dr. bacon’s challenge to the sufficiency of the

Text: EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT HIS CONSPIRACY CONVICTION With respect to Dr. Bacon’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, we have carefully reviewed the relevant parts of the record, as well as the briefs of the parties. We conclude that there is ample evidence to support the jury’s finding of guilt. Although there is no need to mention all of the extensive evidence, the evidence of the medical professionals is significant. Both 1 Dr. Mbanefo also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions on the two substantive counts, which we reject summarily. Suffice it to say that there was ample evidence to support those convictions, including the testimony of the two expert medical professionals. 2 Case: 18-15145 Date Filed: 04/13/2020 Page: 3 of 10 Dr. Gary Kaufman and Dr. Gene Kennedy were qualified as expert witnesses and testified that the six patient records of Dr. Bacon’s patients reflected that Dr. Bacon’s prescriptions were written without legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. Their opinions were based in significant part on the large, and often escalating, amounts of Oxycodone, almost always in combination with Xanax 2 (which combination is risky), and frequently in combinations of two short-acting doses (e.g., both 30 mg. and 15 mg. of Oxycodone), which, although not prohibited, is not “medically sound.” The two expert witnesses also opined that Dr. Bacon’s medical histories were inadequate, and the records reflected no consideration of treatment alternative to the drugs prescribed. The expert doctors also opined that the patient files indicated that Dr. Bacon had overlooked numerous warning signs, including claims by patients to having been taking absurd amounts or combinations of medications; obviously forged MRIs; unreasonable patient representations of pain; and abnormal drug screens. Indeed, in his own testimony, Dr. Bacon corroborated the fact that pretty much all patients were prescribed Oxycodone with Xanax. The foregoing strong evidence that Dr. Bacon’s prescriptions were written without legitimate medical purpose is bolstered by substantial evidence that the 2 Xanax is a brand name for Alprazolam drugs. 3 Case: 18-15145 Date Filed: 04/13/2020 Page: 4 of 10 Valdosta clinic at which Dr. Bacon worked was more like a “pill mill” than a legitimate doctor’s office. There is strong evidence that Dr. Bacon was aware of several warning signs or “red flags,” including knowledge that pharmacies often called complaining that his prescriptions were inappropriate and refusing to fill them.