Review
"Absolutely maddening! Unbelievable. I knew some doctors were bad but I truly had no idea of the extent of the pill/drug trade some of them engage in. Richard Allison has written a truly engrossing book detailing his years as an investigator with Mississippi's state medical board. Readers will be absolutely shocked at what some doctors get away with and the lengths they go to keep their illegal drug use and overprescribing active...It is well worth the read." -Inkysreviews Blog
"In these pages, Allison compiles 22 of his most compelling cases in a chilling narrative of medical and pharmaceutical corruption...His stories are as absorbing as a police procedural as he describes the work of undercover agents, sting operations, corrupt judges who refused to sign warrants against physicians they knew, and doctors and pharmacists who covered for colleagues. His attitudes are firmly grounded in law and procedure, but he also effectively reveals how he takes his mission to heart, offering respectful advice for a drug addict physician who confesses and cooperates and admitting lifelong regret regarding a pharmacist he was unable to indict...An engrossing look into the work of those who investigate flagrant medical malpractice." - Kirkus Reviews
"Some doctors make mistakes which are totally accidental. A few other doctors are intentional in their mistakes; fueled by greed, they kneel at the altar of the almighty dollar. I call them "dragons". This is a book about slaying those "dragons". -Jones E. Allison Jr. "Pete", United States Secret Service, Special Agent - Retired
"Healers or Dealers? is a book that clearly reveals how bad doctors divert and/or overprescribe pharmaceutical opioids, thus fueling the current epidemic. " - Sammy Webb, Director of the Youth Drug Court, Desoto County, Mississippi, former Chief of Police, Senatobia, Mississippi, and former criminal investigator for the 17th Judicial District in Mississippi
"Richard's meticulous investigations described in this book point out the horrendous, widespread misuse of prescribing practices, allowing just a small percentage of licensed doctors to feed an opioid epidemic." -Steve Campbell, Author of Once We Were Aces. Captain, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Retired; Captain, Harrison County Sheriff's Department, Professional Standards Supervisor, Retired
From the Author
Why did I write Healers or Dealers?
To paraphrase portions of a conversation between King George VI and Winston Churchill in the early stages of WWII, King George advised Churchill that the public must be led, not misled, and that we must give the public the unvarnished truth.
I adopted that philosophy in the writing of Healers or Dealers? in order to inform and protect the public, which is supposed to be the primary purpose of all medical/ regulatory boards.
The news is chock-full of "reasons" for the pharmaceutical opioid epidemic but seldom is the root cause exposed. As I stated in the book, most medical doctors are well-trained and perform as prescribed, BUT, there is a nefarious element within the medical community that very few people know exists.
This book is a mere sampling of what evil is out there. Who needs to read this book? Anyone who goes to see a physician for medical care.
