An eastern Pennsylvania doctor has been charged with illegally prescribing drugs to his ex-wife, who turned him in.
The defense attorney for 52-year-old Dr. Steven Puccio says "compassion for his former spouse clouded his judgment" but acknowledges he "did some things he shouldn't have done."
The Lehigh County district attorney says Puccio first prescribed sedatives to the woman, who is now 37, while they were married from 2003 to 2007, and she became addicted. Defense attorney Janet Jackson disputes prosecutors' claims the Walnutport orthopedic surgeon was responsible for that addiction.
Puccio allegedly continued prescribing painkillers and methadone, a drug used to treat opioid addicts, to the woman from 2007 to 2014.
Jackson says Puccio put his medical license on inactive status in July, but hopes to practice medicine after resolving the charges.
