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Mount Carmel Doctor Surrenders Prescription License

MOUNT CARMEL — The doctor accused of operating a “pill mill” in Northumberland County is no longer prescribing the drugs that got him in troub...
kraynack

MOUNT CARMEL -- The doctor accused of operating a "pill mill" in Northumberland County is no longer prescribing the drugs that got him in trouble.

Just one day after being led out of his Mount Carmel office in handcuffs, Dr. Raymond Kraynak is no longer in custody and allowed to practice medicine. There's one catch: he is not allowed to prescribe controlled substances.

Federal investigators accuse Kraynak of illegally prescribing painkillers to thousands of people from his offices in Shamokin and Mount Carmel.

The United States Attorney calls Kraynak's office a "pill mill." Kraynak is even charged in connection with the deaths of five of his patients.

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Federal agents say that between this year and last, Kraynak prescribed the most controlled substances of any doctor in Pennsylvania.

He was soon set to prescribe something else, too. Kraynak was one of three doctors in Northumberland County approved to prescribe medical marijuana.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Kraynak has now been removed from that list.

People in Mount Carmel have mixed feelings about what happened.

"You hear things around town, like, 'yeah, go to him, he'll give you something.' But not on that scale level where people lost their lives," said Patricia Pietrzak.

"That's hard to look past. That's hard to fathom that somebody you've known your whole life could have had a part in that," Ralph Hindmarch said.

Dr. Raymond Kraynak was released from custody Friday morning but still faces the possibility of a trial in federal court.

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