The physician for wrestler Chris Benoit landed in more hot water Thursday when he was indicted by a federal grand jury on 175 counts relating to overprescribing prescription drugs.

The charges against Dr. Phillip Astin, 52, of Carrollton, include those in July 2007 for illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including Percocet, Adderall, Lorcet and Xanax to two patients, said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. He said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and undercover drug agents from Fayette and Carroll County Sheriff’s Offices had executed search warrants at Astin’s medical office just prior to the 2007 federal charges.

Nahmias said the new indictment includes the charges alleged in the first indictment and adds more than 150 counts relating to 17 additional patients, who are alleged to have received hundreds of illegal prescriptions for methadone, Percocet, Oxycontin, Demerol, Lorcet, Ritalin, Vicodin, Xanax, Adderall, and Soma. The indictment, said Nahmias, also alleges that the prescription drugs dispensed by Astin resulted in death or serious bodily injury to one patient.

The new indictment also alleges that Astin wrote and filled 16 prescriptions for Lortab, Xanax, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin in the names of two patients without their knowledge. Under federal law, each allegedly illegal prescription is charged as a separate count, said Nahmias. The law requires medical practitioners to sign and date each prescription for controlled subsntaces on the date that it is issued, he said.

“Addressing the problem of the diversion and abuse of controlled pharmaceuticals continues to be a top priority for DEA,” said Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “The diversion of these drugs through doctor shopping, improper prescribing and rogue internet pharmacies continue to be a major concern. We want to make it clear that these additional charges are the direct result of the dedicated efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts.”

Nahmias said the case is being investigated by Diversion Investigators of with DEA and the Fayette County Sheriff Department's Drug Suppression Task Force, with the assistance of the West Georgia Drug Task Force and the Carroll County Sheriff's Department.

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