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The former chief operating officer of two urgent care clinics in Swampscott and Beverly used more than 60 unwitting patients to fraudulently obtain opioid-containing cough syrups and the drug tramadol to feed his own addiction, he admitted in court on Tuesday.

A Salem District Court judge agreed to a defense request to continue the charges against Adam T. Rodman, 46, of Westwood, without a finding, which will spare him a record of conviction and allow him to hold onto his physician assistant license and continue to prescribe medications at his new job — though under the terms of a consent agreement with state licensing officials, he can only write prescriptions for non-narcotic drugs like antibiotics.

Prosecutors had asked that Rodman be found guilty and serve at least a year in jail and give up his ability to write any prescriptions.

Rodman, who as a physician assistant has the ability to write prescriptions, was hired at American Family Care or AFC in October 2017.

During the course of his employment, investigators later confirmed, he had engaged in a scheme in which he would give patients a prescription for a cough medicine that contained an opioid like hydrocodone, or for tramadol, a drug that is sold under brand names including Ultram, according to court papers.

The patients, unaware of the scheme, would get the prescription filled, go home and take the first dose as instructed, investigators learned.

Within two hours, Rodman would call the patients — at least 43 at the Swampscott location and 18 at the Beverly location — to ask if the medication was helping. Rodman made the calls from his personal cell phone.

If the answer was no, or not yet, Rodman would instruct them to return to the clinic with the medication and told them he would write a prescription for something more effective. When the patients arrived, he would take the bottle of medicine — which the patient or their insurer had paid for — telling them he would have it destroyed, then send them back to their pharmacy for a new prescription, according to investigative reports.

Instead of destroying the drugs, however, Rodman was taking them, stashing emptied bottles inside locked “sharps” containers or other places.

Investigators noted that the medications carry warnings that they can cause drowsiness and should not be taken before driving. They also noted the cost and inconvenience to patients who, while feeling ill or after an injury of some sort, were asked to drive back and forth to the clinic and their pharmacy multiple times.

Employees at the clinics became suspicious when they spotted bottles with patient names on them or saw patients returning for new prescriptions and AFC suspended Rodman on Oct. 2, 2019. He resigned the following day, according to court filings. AFC’s owner and lawyer conducted an internal investigation and reported the incidents to the Department of Public Health as required, and cooperated with the subsequent investigation.

The following month, he was hired by ConvenientMD, another urgent care chain, where he continues to work on the South Shore two years later; an executive of that firm was present in court for Tuesday’s hearing in Salem District Court and two of the firm’s executives wrote letters in support of Rodman’s request for a continuation without a finding, saying they want to continue employing him and noting his work throughout the pandemic.

Rodman’s attorney, Douglas Brooks, told the court that Rodman disclosed both a pending disciplinary case by the Board of Registration of Physician Assistants and then the criminal charges filed against him to ConvenientMD, in July 2019. Brooks also said Rodman has been in treatment, takes part in a support group and counseling and has been regularly tested for drugs up to 15 times per year at random, under the consent agreement with the state regulatory board overseeing his disciplinary matter.

That consent agreement allowed Rodman to be placed on a period of probation that will allow him to keep his license.

The Salem News has requested public records from the Board of Registration of Physician Assistants concerning Rodman’s case.

Brooks also cited several similar medication diversion cases around the state that also resulted in continuations without a finding and urged Chapman to defer to the judgment to the state board.

Prosecutor Haleigh Reisman urged Judge Randy Chapman to find Rodman guilty and impose a 2½ year “split” jail term, with a year to be served and the balance suspended for three years while Rodman serves a term of probation. Investigators noted in their report the financial loss to the patients who paid out of pocket or co-pays, and the potential risk to them from driving back to the clinics after taking the medications.

Chapman elected to go along with Brooks’ recommendation that the charges be continued without a finding, although he extended the time frame to three years instead of the two that Brooks was asking.

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis

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