Dr. Gerber a no show in court

SANDUSKY — A judge on Thursday upheld federal sanctions against an embattled Sandusky doctor under scrutiny for allegedly overprescribing opioids.Dr. Gregory Gerber didn't appear for his hearing at U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio, according to court records. The court issued a temporary restraining order this past week preventing Gerber from writing prescriptions for Schedule II-IV drugs, which includes drugs like Oxycontin and fentanyl. Gerber is a pain management specialist. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Hemlick upheld the order Thursday, saying the federal government showed Gerber allegedly "violated the Controlled Substances Act," according to the order. Thursday's hearing stems from when Gerber's Sandusky office was raided by federal agents executing search warrants. The warrants were part of a federal crackdown on doctors allegedly overprescribing opioids. The Justice Department alleges Gerber accepted kickbacks to promote Subsy, a fentanyl drug, for a pharmaceutical company, Insys Therapeutics Inc. The department also contends Gerber violated the False Claims Act by prescribing Subsys to patients who didn't have a proper medical reason for the drug. "Anywhere we see doctors who are prescribing in a way that isn't medically necessary, it can lead to the diversion of medicine," U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman previously told the Register. "As long as I'm the U.S. Attorney for this district, we will continue to be as aggressive as we can be to enforce the law on physicians who prescribe without reason."Reach news editor Patrick Pfanner at pfanner@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @PatPfanner and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterThe FBI on Wednesday executed a search warrant at 2819 Hayes Ave. (Ohio 4) and seized documents from Dr. Gregory Gerber's office.