Ironton center still under investigation, remains open

 

A doctor’s clinic in Ironton remains under investigation by the Ohio Attorney General’s office, according to Jill Del Greco, spokesperson for the office.

A week ago investigators from Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office executed a search warrant for patient records at the Pinnacle Wellness and Longevity Center, 407 S. Third St., Suite B.

At the time Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said the investigation is to determine if the prescriptions written were for legitimate use.

The center remains open with no charges filed.

Cracking down on the illegal use of prescription drugs across the state is one of the issues uppermost on the agenda of DeWine.

“We try to dry up prescription drugs by dealing with bad doctors,” DeWine said in an interview before speaking at the Lawrence County Lincoln Day Dinner on Tuesday.

Two-thirds of the prescriptions used illegally to get drugs are not written for the drug user, the attorney general said, and that four individuals a day die from drug overdose in Ohio.

However some in law enforcement have said shutting down pain clinics has just sent users to other forms of drugs.

“We are seeing more meth,” Lawless said recently following a South Point meth lab bust. “The ingredients are easy to get their hands on. It doesn’t take an Einstein to cook this stuff unfortunately. Now that it is becoming harder for people to get pain pills, we are seeing more meth and black tar heroin. Just like crack and cocaine, black tar is a more refined and stronger dose and more deadly.”

For DeWine the drug battle must be fought on multiple fronts.

“As far as heroin, we take a more classic approach, with undercover agents, more buys and dealing with snitches,” he said. “Once you didn’t find heroin in Lawrence County. It was in places like Columbus. Now it is in all 88 counties.”