Press Release  AG’s Office Secures Guilty Plea From Dracut Physician Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter And Illegally Prescribing Opioids

Boston — The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that Dr. Richard Miron, 83, of Dracut, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for illegally prescribing opioids to an at-risk patient that resulted in her death and to other at-risk patients for no legitimate medical purpose. Dr. Miron also pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. This is the first known conviction of a doctor for involuntary manslaughter associated with opioid prescribing in Massachusetts. 

As a result of charges brought by the AGO, on November 17, 2025, Dr. Miron pleaded guilty in Middlesex County Superior Court to charges of Involuntary Manslaughter; Illegal Prescribing of Controlled Substances; and Medicaid False Claims. Dr. Miron was sentenced to 2.5 years in a House of Correction on the Illegal Prescribing charges, suspended for 5 years. He was sentenced to 5 years’ probation on the Involuntary Manslaughter charges. For the Medicaid Fraud charges, Dr. Miron was sentenced to 6 months in a House of Correction, suspended for 5 years. As part of his probation, Dr. Miron was ordered to pay full restitution to MassHealth and ordered not to practice medicine or apply for reinstatement of his license to practice.  

In December 2018, the AGO secured indictments against Dr. Miron for involuntarily causing the death of a patient on March 17, 2016. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the patient’s death was caused by acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, morphine, codeine and butalbital, all of which were prescribed by Dr. Miron. Dr. Miron was aware that the victim had previously overdosed on opioids that he had prescribed, yet he continued to prescribe large doses of opioids to her on multiple occasions leading up to her death. 

The AGO’s investigation found that, in multiple other instances, Dr. Miron prescribed opioids, including oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl and hydromorphone to patients, including those with documented substance use disorders, for no legitimate medical purpose. The illegal prescriptions Dr. Miron wrote caused pharmacies to unknowingly falsely bill MassHealth for the medication. 

From September 2015 to February 2016, Dr. Miron ranked as the largest provider of high dose, short acting oxycodone prescriptions among all MassHealth providers in the state. MassHealth terminated Dr. Miron from the program in September 2017, and he has not practiced medicine since November 2018 following an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. 

This matter is representative of the AGO’s commitment to addressing the root causes of the opioid crisis and holding companies and individuals accountable for their role in contributing to the nationwide epidemic. In July, the AGO secured $720 million from opioid drug makers through eight nationwide settlements. In January, AG Campbell helped secure a $7.4 billion dollar settlement in principle with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, which is expected to bring up to $105 million in funds to Massachusetts. To date, through various opioid-related settlements, the AGO has secured more than $1 billion in eligible recoveries for Massachusetts, over $390 million of which has been received to date. Funds received have been directed to the Commonwealth’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund and also distributed to cities and towns across the Commonwealth to support opioid prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.   

This case was investigated and prosecuted by Senior Trial Counsel Elisha Willis, Managing Attorney Katie Cooper Davis, Assistant Attorney General William Champlin IV, Investigation Supervisor Christopher Cecchini, and Investigations Supervisor Shelby Stephens, all of the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division. Victim Witness Advocate Lia Panetta of the AGO’s Victim Services Division and Assistant Attorneys General Gabe Thornton and Nicole Nixon of the AGO’s Criminal Appeals Division also assisted with the matter. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Lowell Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and MassHealth provided substantial assistance with the investigation.  

The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.     

 The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $6,458,176 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,152,724 for FY 2026, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   

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