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Clough gets 4 years for fentanyl kickbacks

CONCORD — A former physician assistant, described as “one of the nation’s most prolific prescribers” of the addictive fentanyl spray Subsys, was sentenced Monday to 4 years in prison for prescribing the drug to ineligible patients and taking cash kickbacks from the manufacturer.

Christopher Clough, 45, of Dover, was sentenced Monday in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire.

“This case is about greed and the violation of the fundamental trust between patient and provider that is at the heart of our medical system,” wrote U.S. Attorney Scott Murray in a sentencing memo to the federal court.

The sentence stems from Clough’s former role as a physician assistant for PainCare of New Hampshire in Somersworth. The U.S. Attorney’s office reported Clough wrote nearly 750 Subsys prescriptions, worth about $8 million, with Medicare and Tricare paying $2.7 million of it. The sentencing memo reported patients did not know the risks associated with Subsys and assumed Clough was prescribing it in good faith as their medical provider.