Show us the evidence

SANDUSKY — Attorneys for a local doctor accused of overprescribing opioids want a judge to order federal agents to turn over evidence they seized during raids.They also want to know the identities of all agents who posed as patients of Dr. Gregory Gerber, who lives in Marblehead and is represented by attorneys Robert Friedman and John Gibbons. In a first-of-its-kind legal action, the U.S. attorney in August obtained a temporary restraining order stripping Gerber of his privileges to prescribe controlled substances. A civil complaint filed by federal agencies in a U.S. District Court in Toledo accused him of contributing to, and profiting from, the opioid epidemic by overprescribing medications.FBI and other law enforcement agencies executed search warrants for Gerber's home, his office in Sandusky where he treated about 200 patients, a storage unit and a Port Clinton pharmacy where his wife worked.One of the main allegations against Gerber is his connection to Insys Therapeutic Inc. and the distribution of Subsys — a fentanyl medication — to patients who allegedly didn't meet the diagnosis necessary for the prescription.Gerber spoke to FBI agents in 2016, the attorneys contend, and provided all documentation they requested during the investigation into Insys Therapeutic.There have been no criminal charges filed against Gerber, but the search warrants were based on potential violations of the Federal Criminal Code."It is painfully obvious that criminal charges may be brought at some unknown time in the future," Gerber's attorneys wrote in a court motion filed this week.The documents seized by the federal agents could be used by Gerber to defend himself against the civil complaint, according to his attorneys. But those documents and the possible evidence that could be used to bring forth criminal charges "bleed into each other," making the two indistinguishable, his attorneys contend.They detailed the evidence they want ordered to be released: • All documents and interviews relating to Gerber's connection with Insys Therapeutic Inc. and the distribution of Subsys• All patient files, office documentation, extracted content from electronic devices and any other documentary evidence seized by authorities during the raids at his office, home and the pharmacy in Port Clinton• Summaries of all interviews conducted by federal agents• A roster identifying all law enforcement agents who went undercover as patients at Gerber's practiceThe parties met for a case management conference in Judge Jeffrey Helmick's court on Monday. Helmick ruled the case would follow the standard civil track with a telephone conference set for April 17, 2019, and discovery due by May 31, 2019.Read more: Federal agents raid local doctor's officeReach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister