A West Hollywood doctor, who is accused of writing more than 1,200 prescriptions for powerful painkillers after his authority to prescribe those drugs was revoked, surrendered Monday on federal drug trafficking charges.
James William Eisenberg, 72, of Venice surrendered at the Los Angeles federal courthouse, where he is named in an indictment charging him with four counts of using a revoked U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration number and three counts of distribution of hydrocodone, which is the generic drug found in brand-name products such as Vicodin and Norco.
Eisenberg allegedly wrote the prescriptions in exchange for cash payments while he worked out of medical offices in West Hollywood, including a Santa Monica Boulevard storefront he called Pacific Support Services. Eisenberg also issued "medical marijuana" recommendations from the West Hollywood locations, according to court documents and DEA records.
In December 2011, a DEA administrative judge determined that Eisenberg acted as a "drug dealer" and suspended his registration number. The DEA issued an order permanently revoking Eisenberg's registration in July 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
If convicted of all counts in the indictment, Eisenberg faces up to 46 years in federal prison.
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