CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia University professor tells the story of a convicted Floridian felon and his twin brother who ran pill mills that started hundreds of pain clinics in his forthcoming book, “American Pain.”
John Temple, an associate professor at the WVU Reed College of Media, details how twin brothers Chris and Jeffery George made $40 million in two years through illegal pain clinics in his latest book, a true-crime story due out next month. Now serving 17 ½ and 15 ½ years in jail, respectively, the two opened up to Temple to tell their story of how they operated a seemingly legal pain clinic in broad daylight.
The brothers hired doctors and bought painkillers from wholesalers to distribute indiscriminately to almost any patient, or addict, who walked through their clinic doors, Temple explained. The George twins had no idea how successful their business would be.
“It took them by surprise,” Temple said. “When they started it, they didn’t believe it was going to be that big of a deal. They thought of it as another business.”
The twins operated four clinics: American Pain, Hallandale Pain, Executive Pain and East Coast Pain.
“They knew what they were doing but they thought it was legal a lot of the time because no one really shut them down,” Temple said. “They were operating out in the open.”
Following the likes of the original clinic, American Pain, hundreds of other clinics opened to create a new prescription drug industry…