They dont want to touch you unless they have to touch you. Make and Model: The only Billboard Hot 100 entry for new wave greats The Cars with an automotive title to match their band name . A few months into their new venture, Reitz and Young were supposed to meet to discuss the running of the clinic. Young had an active channel on Periscope, where he and Phillips drank and waxed philosophical. Scott Deberry: And, you know, once you get around the tattoos and the way he talkscause he talks to you as if hes talking to you on the streets As long as he was going to take care of me and make me feel okay, or make me feel better, I had no problem with that. was found dead of an apparent overdose. And it was immediately clear that he is not your average medical provider. At the same time, building himself up as a renegade nurse practitioner seems to have allowed Young to sweep his faults under the rug of unconventionality. LaRhonda Scott Deberry: When I first met him, I thought maybe he was prejudiced. He graduated from Musicians Institute in 1985, and is best known for his time with the thrash metal band Megadeth, appearing on the 1988 album So Far, So Good. A restaurant called the Little Rebel displayed a Confederate flag. Longoria: This week, Olga Khazan peers into an internet portal to try to find one answer to how on earth we found ourselves in an opioid crisis. Off camera, Young allegedly prescribed 1.4 million addictive pills and had sex with female patients. Khazan: Even LaRhonda, the retired teacher who had soured on Jeff, told me that Jeff was the rare provider who would take her pain seriously. According to police reports and court records, his second ex-wife, Dawn, claimed that throughout their relationship Young repeatedly pushed, threatened, and attempted to rape her. Watching this makes me really sad, one YouTube user commented on the Rock Doc pilot in 2019. Federal prosecutors who charged him in a massive opioid bust say he overprescribed painkillers, often for money, notoriety, and sexual favors.. November 7, 2018, marked the beginning of legal repercussions for Young. Though both she and Reaves said Young should be held accountable for anything he did wrong, Stephanie told me that she forgave him. Julia Longoria: Over 20 years ago, pharmaceutical companies began to market the use of a magical pill. Its light and upbeat.). Many told me that they didnt want to talk on the record. Heres what I can tell you about the JY2, all right? Ballard: I dont believe Jeff overprescribed medication. This striking 6ft 3in person embodies kanji tattoos on his biceps, and the effortlessly cool personality will describe how one sees him. And that was not the case at all. Im too good for you because I got this money, or whatever. Whats up kids? (Young has pleaded not guilty to all charges. (The drugmaker that is most often blamed for the epidemic doesnt agree with this assessment: Suggesting that activities that last occurred more than 16 years ago are responsible for todays complex and multifaceted opioid crisis is deeply flawed, a Purdue Pharma spokesperson, Robert Josephson, said in a statement to The New York Times for a story on this issue.). But maybe, just maybe, he showed too much. Longoria: Opioids would be a new kind of painkiller to treat not just acute pain after an event like a surgery, but also pain that was more mundane, like chronic back pain that patients would complain about for years, but which doctors didnt have a clear cure for. You know that. Many medical providers are small-business owners who operate with limited oversight from authorities. Rudins lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Were tracing your fucking account now, so you better be prepared to reap the whirlwind of your bullshit., As he gathered followers, Young began to deploy his social-media presence to hunt down and intimidate his former employees and ex-friends, some of whom told me they felt threatened by Young and his followers. She told me that while she was a patient at the clinic, she had a front-row seat to Preventagenix getting more and more popular. As the court spent two days scrutinizing his years of alleged misdeeds, he sat mostly silently. Khazan: A lot of them, unfortunately, went with it. The whole thing was Very Online. Patients would spend an hour or two in the waiting room, only to get a rushed exam and prescription. They didnt try to become reality-TV stars. So, no, I cant say that. I told him about this podcastexplained to him what a podcast was. Every single time I went to that doctor and I left, Stairway to Heaven played. Young: So, the, uh, the sinister ministerthat would be me (Fades under again.). One former employee told me its not clear whether Young was exchanging prescriptions for sex or just giving his many girlfriends the medications they asked for. His followers across social-media accounts numbered in the low thousandshigher than a casual users, but a trifle compared with even a C-list celebritys fan base. And were gonna send a message. They called it the single largest crackdown on prescription opioids in history. She doesnt think Young was the one who drugged her, but she believes nevertheless that she was drugged. He gave Young total control over what was recorded. Young was indicted on drug-trafficking charges in April 2019. Throughout Youngs year-long treatment of MY, Young failed to conduct pill counts, consult a state database meant to monitor the dispensing of controlled substances, and discuss with MY the risks of combining these drugs, according to the document. M.Y. Occasionally he would glare at his ex-wife Dawn, who was in the gallery. As Young collected more tattoos and befriended more local bands, he began to attract a certain clientele. When one video was apparently manipulated by one of his detractors and posted online, Young threatened whoever might have done it. States largely rely on medical boards to regulate practitioners, but these entities have a reputation for leniency. 1:07. Young would continue to prescribe drugs there for two more years. Long after the criminal charges against him became known, many of Youngs patients and friends came to his defenseincluding some whom he had seemingly wronged. In May 2019, shortly after Young was indicted, I traveled to Jackson to try to understand the place that gave rise to the Rock Doc. I just asked him. Jacksons cheeriness, though, is at odds with the populations somewhat grim physical health. It fit neatly, at least, into a story I was already really familiar with: It was the greedy provider who was allegedly taking advantage of his patients. Young was by no means nationally or even regionally known. Olga Khazan: At the time, there wasnt a lot of limits on pharmaceutical companies being able to tell doctors that. Kevin: Jeff and I are full of antics. Some of the pills had been prescribed by Young. Young: Very nice. Patients, meanwhile, dont always know that medical boards exist in the first place, or that they can complain to them if theyve been wronged, Lisa Robin, the chief advocacy officer for the Federation of State Medical Boards, says. The department suggested that he surrender his license in order to resolve the matter quickly, but according to a report from The Tennessean and The Jackson Sun, a defiant Young rejected that offer. How was a nurse practitioner whose behavior was so outrageous allowed to treat patients for so long? Calles: I really am so thankful that he suggested that to me, because if he hadnt have, I probably wouldve never done it, because I wouldnt take anybody else seriously enough to even think about doing it. (Fades under.). It moved so slowly in punishing drug-addicted nurses that some were able to get new jobs and steal narcotics while under investigation, an eastern Tennessee news station, WJHL, found in 2016. What a great, great, great, great song! Rock Doc pilot testimonial: (Over heavy rock music.) Longoria: There are many pieces to the puzzle of how opioids found their way into so many medicine cabinets. After the hearing, Young was jailed pending his trial, which is currently scheduled to be held this spring. Most doctor appointments, after all, average a nerve-racking 17 minutes, in which you spill out a complicated medical history and pray the doctor has a good solution. Moreover, throwing some glimpse of lights to his personal life, Dr. Jeff is a happily married man. Khazan: Anyone online could watch him, say, biopsy someones skin while listening to hard rock. Whether or not Young is convicted, the perverse incentives for doctors to see patients for short visits and to prescribe too many unnecessary drugs will remain. had lower back pain and complained of numbness in his left arm. I am a, uh, nurse practitioner. This distinction is important, because while nurse practitioners are functioning in the same capacity as physiciansordering and interpreting Khazan: He worked in the timber industry, and one day at work, he got overheated and disoriented. Despite the accumulation of evidence suggesting that Young was running his practice recklessly and endangering patients, he remained licensed to write prescriptions for five years after PreventaGenix opened its doors. Khazan: Jeff and his friend Kevin would often head to Periscope to defend themselves. I mean, you wouldve thought they were giving away meds for free, to be honest. At other times, PreventaGenix staffers would stumble upon a woman he had brought to the clinic the previous night. So it just kind of, I guess, comforted me. Health care is one of the Jackson areas most important industries, and West Tennessee Healthcare, which once employed Young, is the largest employer in the county. In July 2016, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into allegations that Young was overprescribing opioids. (The background music shifts tone dramatically to a wispy, light, contemplative energy.). Listen to the trailer for Holy Week. And the word that kept coming up when people described Jeff is comfortable. Sound design by David Herman. Calles: I dont know. But tonally, much of the footage betrays him. ), Khazan: So doctors were kind of like, Okay.. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and is currently in jail awaiting trial. Yeah. Khazan: Jeff was working as a nurse practitioner at a clinic called Preventagenix in Jackson, Tennessee. It doesnt sound like much of a sella middle-aged man doling out medical advice in a city midway between Memphis and Nashville. Right? In April 2019, he was indicted on drug-trafficking charges, along with five other medical providers in Jackson, two of whom were the supervising physicians Young, as a nurse practitioner, was required to have. The clinics aim would be to halt the parade of miseriesheart attacks, early deaths, hospital billsbrought on by the obesity epidemic. Scott Deberry: But after a while, when you read stuff, how many people could be wrong? Before long, the three men hatched a plan to found a network of health clinics that would check patients cholesterol levels and offer diet and exercise advice. His lawyer also declined to answer any specific allegations. (Somber, reflective droning notes play up. The patients of the nurse practitioner and aspiring reality star Jeffrey Young say he helped them like nobody else could. After the raid, Young spent the night in jail on an outstanding warrant, and PreventaGenix closed soon after. Im Julia Longoria. They go on working. Were small enough where we still talk, Jerry Gist, who was the mayor at the time, told me. Over the past two decades, opioids have claimed more than 450,000 American lives. (Laughs heartily.). He raises a glass filled with red wine, as if in a toast. In 2016, Young, who was 42 at the time, invited a cameraman to shoot a pilot episode about his life as a nurse practitioner in Jackson, Tennessee. To have a medical provider be polite to you, accept you, maybe even dig through your charts to find the root cause of your ailmentsit can be validating. Khazan: Because I couldnt talk to Jeff, Ive spent more hours than I want to admit combing through his Periscope videos, trying to understand this man. The agents seized about 350 of Youngs patient charts and every computer in the office, according to Gutgsell, the former office manager, and the notice of seizure states that about 10,000 individual doses of hydrocodone were also taken. Automated News Feed Subreddit No Censorship, Just News. Its a shame, he told me, that Young got into so much legal trouble; think of all the people he might have helped. His indictment implicated him and two of his former supervising physicians, Alexander Alperovich and Andrew Rudin, and alleged that Youngs motives in prescribing controlled substances to his patients were often to obtain money, notoriety, and sexual favors. Alperovich and Rudin, the indictment claims, accepted money derived from the proceeds of the conspiracy in exchange for their purported supervision. (Both have pleaded not guilty. We put out calls and emails to dozens of Jeff Youngs patients. Do you feel safe with Mr. Young being out there? a prosecutor on the case, Andrew Pennebaker, asked Pickering in court. Nurse practitioner Jeff Young, known as the "Rock Doc," and . Stephanie would accompany him to different clubs in the area, and wherever he went, she said, he was surrounded by hired bodyguards and friends she called bouncers, who were around for the times when he drank too much or flirted with women and got into fights with their boyfriends. Many of the people I interviewedincluding some of Youngs former patients and employeesasked to remain anonymous, often because they feared retribution at the hands of Young and his friends. The scenes are meant to serve as a testament to the effectiveness of Youngs work hard, play harder ethos. Hes prescribing drugs that people want, another man added. They thought I was basically lazy and just wanted to have pain pills, just for whatever reason. In March 2019, the health department received a complaint that Young had inappropriate sexual contact with patients, and sent him a letter of warning without disciplining him. She became his patient around 2016. Through his lawyer, Michael R. Working, Phillips did not return several requests for comment. (Dawn did not press charges at the time, and she declined to speak with me for this story.). Eventually Shirley Pickering, the nursing-board investigator who was looking into the allegations against Young, also grew terrified of him. Aggressive marketing is one piece of it. He was found in his bedroom, where the ambulance service discovered an empty syringe under his pillow and empty pill bottles on his bedside table that had been filled that month. His vision was, evidently, to one day launch a reality series of the same name. Tune in today! ], Oh, you look fine to me.. Well all be killed., It helped that Young had prominent friends he could call on for help. In an attempt to understand how Young got away with so much for so long, Ive spent more than a year tracking his story, reading court documents, and examining his extensive digital footprint. Khazan: Part of making her feel better was prescribing her opioids. (Soft percussive synthesizer music plays.). Women were drawn to Young; he had a big house and was the first to buy everyones drink. Similarly, Young appeared to get the benefit of the doubt from virtually everyone. Look at me! Scott Deberry: Kinda made it start seeming like he was unprofessional. Strippers, tattoo artists, and rock-band groupies saw a kindred spirit in Young and came to him as patients. This is just gonna be a little freeze spray first. Jackson, TN USA. She wasnt the only patient to stick by him. The Daily Beast Automated News Feed No Censorship, Just News. The half-dozen former patients who did agree to talk with me were mostly people who wanted to defend Jeff. (The case did not result in a conviction.) He would try to squeeze in even more patient visits each daysometimes well over 50, former employees sayand would either forget to document services or would document services he hadnt provided. The first move of any significant consequence for Young came in early 2017, when the DEA raided the clinic. I asked to speak with him for this story, but because of a gag order on the case, his lawyer declined interviews with me. He has been arrested several times, though not convicted, for assaulting women. Im very shocked. And Im like, Oh. [A beat.] Two bouncers made sure she got home, but when she woke up in bed the next morning, her eyes were black, her nose was broken, and her mouth was bleeding. Khazan: Ive talked to a lot of patients over the years who feel very uncomfortable around their doctors. But when he suggested it the way he did, I took it seriously. One former patient who had a falling-out with Young told me he or someone associated with him attacked her on the internet forum Topix, calling her a whore and a drunk. She said her home address and photos of her adult daughters were posted on the site, along with rape threats directed at her daughters. How far can medical providers go in giving patients what they want? Everybody pay fucking attention worldwide because Im about to save this motherfuckers lifelive on Periscope broadcast! Fact-check by Michelle Ciarrocca and Jack Segelstein. Will be glad to take the balance out of your ass. To another, Jeff asked, You want to come by for a checkup tomorrow? Listen to the trailer for, The Hard-Partying, Rock-Obsessed Nurse at the Center of a Massive Opioid Bust. This social-media stardom appears to have helped inoculate him against concerns that his loose approach to medicine could harm anyone. Throughout the opioid epidemic, a distressing number of doctors have seen a perverse opportunity in Americans suffering. RockDocTV Show. Meanwhile, LeAnn Naylor, the secretary of Jacksons former mayor, first told me over email that she stood by Young after his hearing, but then recently said shed started having doubts because Young would frequently hit on her adult daughter. The week that followed Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination was revolutionaryso why was it nearly forgotten? Young neither admits nor denies the following allegations, Tracy Alcock, a lawyer with the state health department, said at the hearing, but he acknowledges that the departments proof would show the following: From August 2013 to November 2016, Young prescribed controlled substances in amounts and for durations that were not medically necessary, advisable, or justified for a diagnosed condition. The board put his license on probation for two years, during which time he could not prescribe certain Schedule II or Schedule III controlled substances, including drugs such as oxycodone, fentanyl, Vicodin, and Adderall. Khazan: And he posted dozens of videos there. Khazan: I had a lot of Why on earth? questions: Why would he do this? She told me that Jeff took her pain seriously. Sound design by David Herman. Young became known for putting drugs into the hands of almost anyone who asked. [A moment of indistinct crosstalk.] They married in 2014 and lived right above his vet clinic in Denver. Thats very distressing Yeah, Im shocked, you know? He did know exactly what to talk to him about to make him feel at ease, and he impressed that grumpy old man so much that that was his primary-care doctor and the only doctor he would see. The story of how that doctor-patient communication broke downhundreds of thousands of timesis what Olga wanted to understand. 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