U.S. District Judge Linda Reade dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
Angulo, 59, was accused of improperly authorizing thousands of prescriptions for pain pills, diet medication, and other drugs while working for Pharmacom International Corp., a Florida-based Internet company that operated from 2003 to 2004.
The company's doctors approved prescriptions without examining patients, communicating with them or verifying their identities, prosecutors said. Three Pharmacom officials and a person who recruited doctors were sentenced to prison. Eight physicians pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and launder the proceeds.
The investigation began after agents raided the Union Family Pharmacy in Dubuque and found evidence that it had illegally dispensed medication for Pharmacom and another Internet company, Medical Web Services, which pleaded guilty. Eleven of its physicians were also prosecuted.
Angulo fled to Panama around the time Florida regulators suspended his medical license for prescribing controlled substances to Medicaid patients "in excessive quantities and without medical justification." An audit found his prescriptions cost Medicaid $6.5 million over six years and caused addiction and dangerous health risks.
Investigators know Angulo's whereabouts in Panama, which has an extradition treaty with the U.S. to return fugitives. But a spokeswoman for the Panamanian Embassy in Washington said the country never received a formal extradition petition for Angulo and that the country's constitution bars the extradition of Panamanian citizens.
The dismissal of the charges does not mean Angulo is free to return to the U.S. He is still listed as one of Florida's most wanted criminals and is being sought for separate Medicaid fraud and narcotics charges in that state.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Z
totally agree with the last sentence
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