Operator of Kentucky clinic conspired to illegally distribute drugs, grand jury charges
The former operator of a medical clinic in Eastern Kentucky took part in illegally distributing drugs, a federal grand jury has charged.
The grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Jeremy T. Bryson with one count each of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in an unauthorized manner from January 2021 to January 2022; conspiracy to illegally use a prescribing registration number assigned to another person; and using money derived from criminal activity to buy a pickup truck.
Bryson owned a company called The Talmadge Group Inc., which operated a clinic in Paintsville called Appalachian Family Medicine, according to the indictment.
The indictment said Bryson’s father owned the building that housed the clinic, and that Bryson paid his father rent and a monthly fee to act as a consultant at the clinic.
The indictment against Jeremy Bryson identified the father only as D.B., but the details of the case match those in a case against Don V. Bryson, a physician who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to issue prescriptions for pain pills using another doctor’s registration number.
Don Bryson surrendered his medical license in 2012 over concerns that his treatment of patients did not meet minimum standards.
However, he worked as a consultant at the Paintsville clinic where his son’s company operated, according to his plea agreement.
‘Made providers uncomfortable’
According to Don Bryson’s plea, there was a lot of turnover in doctors at the facility, largely because the clinic issued prescriptions “under circumstances that made the providers uncomfortable.”
For example, Don Bryson and the operator of the business, identified in his case as J.B., placed limits on measures that the temporary doctors could use to check if patients were misusing or selling their drugs, such as requiring them to take drug tests, according to Don Bryson’s plea.
Don Bryson and J.B. also discouraged doctors at Appalachian Family Medicine from reducing the dosage of pain pills people received, Don Bryson acknowledged.
Don Bryson admitted he and J.B. agreed to use the prescribing number of a doctor who had left the clinic to issue prescriptions in September 2021.
Don Bryson pleaded guilty in June but has not been sentenced. He agreed to forfeit the building where the clinic operated.
Don and Jeremy Bryson were not charged in each other’s cases.
The indictment against Jeremy Bryson includes a count under which the government plans to seize property if he is convicted, including $41,760 taken from bank accounts and the pickup truck.
Jeremy Bryson paid $67,466 for the Dodge Ram 2500 in Lexington using money derived from criminal conduct, the indictment alleges.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 11:43 AM.
