Supreme Court sides with doctors challenging their convictions in opioids ‘pill mill’ case
By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of two doctors who were convicted of prescribing dangerous opioids without valid medical justification in violation of federal law.
Lawyers for the doctors appealed their convictions, arguing that a jury should have been able to consider whether they reasonably believed that they were acting within professional boundaries. The government had argued such a standard was not necessary.
The court ruling for the doctors was unanimous, but the justices differed 6-3 on the legal rationale.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said that for the prosecution of the doctors to be successful, the government “must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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