Justices seem to favor doctors convicted in pain pill schemes

WASHINGTON — In a case stemming from the opioid addiction crisis, the Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to side with two imprisoned doctors who wrote thousands of prescriptions for pain medication in short periods.

The justices signaled they would rule that the doctors’ trials were unfair because they were prevented from mounting a “good faith” defense that they did not intend any harm to patients.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that prosecutors must prove that doctors knew they were illegally prescribing powerful pain drugs in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act because the stakes are so high.

The court is weighing appeals from Xiulu Ruan of Mobile, Ala., and Shakeel Kahn, who practiced medicine in Ft. Mohave, Ariz., and Casper, Wyo.

Ruan is serving a 21-year federal prison term. Kahn is in prison for up to 25 years. A favorable ruling could lead to new trials or the dismissals of charges against them.

Ruan and a partner, James Couch, were convicted of overprescribing medications at their Physicians Pain Specialists of Alabama clinic and a pharmacy.

The two doctors wrote 66,892 prescriptions in 2014, investigators said. They grossed $20 million between 2012 and a raid in 2015, prosecutors said.