The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that Mt. San Rafael Hospital and Rural Health Clinic in Trinidad, Colorado, and three physicians employed by the hospital—Dr. Sheryll Castro-Flores, Dr. Joseph Jimenez, and Dr. Douglas McFarland—have agreed to pay a combined $650,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the Controlled Substances Act by unlawfully dispensing controlled substances, including high doses of opioids and dangerous drug combinations, and violated the False Claims Act by seeking payment for many of those invalid prescriptions from Medicare and other federal healthcare programs. The United States alleges that, between January 2016 and December 2023, Castro-Flores, Jimenez, and McFarland violated the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act by repeatedly issuing invalid prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids. According to the allegations, these prescriptions were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose or were outside the usual course of professional practice.