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A federal dragnet has swept up 53 health care professionals from five states, including ours, on charges of trafficking in illegal drugs.
That should take quite a bite out of the substance abuse trade in this region of the country. Federal prosecutors said those charged were tied to about 350,000 prescriptions and 32 million pills.
Most of those charged, including seven people linked to health care businesses as well as the practitioners, are from Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. Only two are from West Virginia (Bridgeport and Cabell County) and one is from Ohio (Hamilton County).
Drug crime among health care professionals is not unknown in our area, however. A St. Clairsville doctor was convicted of drug trafficking earlier this year.
Health care professionals have both easy access to opioids and other drugs and good cover for dealing in them. Though many addicts became hooked on opioids through prescriptions written with honest, good intentions, that no longer is an excuse.
Good for federal authorities for the just-ended investigation, then. Let us hope there are more to come -- and that West Virginia and Ohio get more attention.