FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – January 31, 2014 – On January 22, 2014, twelve days before jury selection was to begin in the United States District Court, Fort Myers, Judge Sheri Polster-Chappell granted summary judgment to the City of Marco Island Police Department and its former Police Chief while exonerating them from any liability to the Plaintiffs, Larry and Susan Heine, owners of Island Drug Pharmacy. The Plaintiffs brought a civil rights action alleging they were harassed by the Marco Island Police Department with the intent to force them out of business. The Plaintiffs alleged that law enforcement officers illegally detained customers of the pharmacy after they picked up their prescriptions, conducted unlawful searches, and parked marked cars outside the pharmacy on a consistent basis.
The Plaintiffs sought compensatory damages for the loss of their business, punitive damages, damages for loss of reputation and attorneys’ fees. The GrayRobinson trial team, through depositions and investigators, discovered that the pharmacy went from a legitimate business to a pharmacy that was dispensing a staggering amount of 1,000,000 oxycodone pills in a single year. The average pharmacy in the United States dispenses only 69,000 oxycodone pills per year.
According to neighboring business owners in the pharmacy’s shopping plaza, the plaza’s clientele changed due to the type of customers Island Drug was attracting. The pharmacy drew a crowd of addicts and dealers, bringing an influx of criminal and suspicious activity onto Marco Island, including thefts, overdoses, and hand-to-hand prescription drug sales. A former relief pharmacist and other individuals who worked for the pharmacy testified that customers who came to fill their prescriptions for oxycodone often appeared to be under the influence of drugs, crashing into shelves, falling asleep and were otherwise incoherent. Larry Heine, the pharmacist in-charge, continued to fill controlled substance prescriptions for these individuals despite making notations in his computer system about "potential dealers and abusers." The bulk of the oxycodone prescriptions filled at the Marco Island pharmacy were prescribed by pain management physicians located on the East Coast of Florida, many of whom were disciplined or lost their licenses to practice medicine. All of the wholesalers that supplied the pharmacy with oxycodone and other controlled substances cut off sales to the pharmacy due to its unusual dispensing practices which were out of line with federal standards. Judge Chappell found the City, its former Police Chief and the Marco Island Police Department, appropriately and legally did their job, without violating any of the Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
"Justice was served in this case," said Phil Ward, a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Fort Lauderdale office and lead for the trial team. "The Heines created a deplorable situation. Rather than take responsibility for their own actions, they tried to point the finger at the City and its police department. The Heines turned a blind eye to the obvious signs of prescription drug fraud and abuse. They brought a criminal element to the shopping plaza and that alone required the attention of local law enforcement to protect neighboring business owners and the Marco Island community at large.""
The City of Marco Island Police Department and its former Police Chief were represented by the GrayRobinson trial team of Philip Ward, Daniel Alter, Jeffrey Kuntz, Evan Appell and Danielle Goodacre-Cline. The team was assisted by Burt Saunders, who serves as Marco Island City Attorney, and Daphnie Bercher.
This case was covered by local media.