Ohio doctor charged in alleged pill-selling plot

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio doctor has been charged with plotting to sell Oxycontin painkiller pills by using his patients as go-betweens.

Federal prosecutors in Cleveland say 59-year-old Dr. David Walter Massie of Mansfield was charged in a one-count indictment with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute.

He’s accused of writing prescriptions that were filled by patients who then gave him the pills, more than 4,000 in all, for him to use or sell. Most transactions occurred between 2005 and 2007 and continued through May.

His court case was delayed last week until Thursday so he could hire an attorney. No attorney is listed in court records. A Massie phone listing has been disconnected.