Doctor gets prison time for "pill mill"

CLARK COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) - A former doctor was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday for running a "pill mill".

Prosecutors say Han Yang was giving out prescriptions to patients no questions asked at his offices in Clark and Montgomery Counties, even prescribing painkillers to a woman who was nine months pregnant.

That's what got investigators involved.

"In the last few years he got sloppy," says Aaron Haslam with the Ohio Attorney General's office. "The money was easy and it was easier to write a prescription than do a full examination."

Before being sentenced, Yang apologized for his actions.

"I hurt my family, my profession," Yang told the court.

Prosecutors say this should be a warning to other doctors who are peddling pills.

"Today's a statement to physicians around the state that if you're going to use your medical license to traffic drugs we're going to be there," Haslem says.

While some may wonder about the harm in handing out prescriptions, one woman knows the pain the pills can cause.

Danielle Smoot's 16-year old son Cole died after taking a single pill prescribed for someone else.

"Kids are taking these not realizing how deadly they are and my son didn't get a second chance," Smoot says.

Smoot told 2 NEWS the deadly pill didn't come from Yang, but she wants to make sure what happened to her son doesn't happen to anyone else.

"It's very troubling," Smoot says. "I think it's way too easy to get drugs."

Those with the Attorney General's office say they're still investigating others in Yang's practice, but so far no one else has been charged.