There is a friendliness, too, that one associates with the South. Fact-check by Michelle Ciarrocca and Jack Segelstein. It wasnt like any medical office Id ever been to. Young seemed to have been expecting them. As many as three women a day allegedly came to his office for sex, though one former employee said Young might have had sex with more women after hours. I had a lot of Why on earth? questions, the Atlantic reporter Olga Khazan says. One patient she knew kept a cane in the trunk of her car and visited doctors offices with it in order to appear disabled so she could get more pills. I dont like him asking out my daughter But even then, I still went to him, and my ex-husband still went to him. She was referred to Jeff by one of her friends. So, no, I cant say that. Sometimes patients seeking opioids go to different providers until they find one who is willing to prescribe to them. Jacksons cheeriness, though, is at odds with the populations somewhat grim physical health. A restaurant called the Little Rebel displayed a Confederate flag. As the cameraman who filmed the pilot told me, Everywhere he went, it was like the Beatles., But the way in which Young gained some of these fans has become the focus of a federal court case. So it just kind of, I guess, comforted me. I talked to him a couple of weeks ago. The story of how that doctor-patient communication broke downhundreds of thousands of timesis what Olga wanted to understand. Of course other doctors dont write as many prescriptions, the implication seemed to be. The trial for "Rock Doc" Jeffrey Young, the infamous nurse practitioner from Jackson who was indicted in 2019 on drug trafficking charges and accused of . The next morning, the office manager, Kristie Gutgsell, would clean up after them. Always have been for the patient. The manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids have been sued by dozens of states and municipalities for the damage theyve allegedly caused. Once his colleagues were out of the business, Young began crafting a persona based around rock music and hard living. Im like, Im as outspoken as he is. In one scene, he and his best friend, a pharmaceutical representative named John Kevin Phillips, broadcast themselves on the video-streaming app Periscope. Though both she and Reaves said Young should be held accountable for anything he did wrong, Stephanie told me that she forgave him. (The DEA declined to comment on Youngs case for this story.) The entire epidemic has been an unending story of doctors, pharmaceutical executives, and public officials blithely ignoring signs of danger. ), (The intro to a rock song plays, with a driving, pulsing beat. The grosser side. I need you to find this fucker, he wrote, according to court testimony later reported by The Jackson Sun. Lets see here, shes 23, Young says. The resulting videos are typical scenes from a medical practicepeople donning gloves, waiting in chairsspliced together over a heavy-metal soundtrack. After he opened the new clinic, Youngs sexual behavior with patients allegedly continued, as did the towns willingness to ignore it. Im in the middle of a life-saving procedure here. Trial dates have been set for "Rock Doc" Jeffery Young, his supervising physicians, and two more medical professionals recently indicted on additional drug trafficking charges. Khazan: To me, this felt immature, but it was all part of the brand. The department suggested that he surrender his license in order to resolve the matter quickly, but according to a report from The Tennessean and The Jackson Sun, a defiant Young rejected that offer. Yeah. (Patel did not respond to requests for comment.) One former patient who had a falling-out with Young told me he or someone associated with him attacked her on the internet forum Topix, calling her a whore and a drunk. She said her home address and photos of her adult daughters were posted on the site, along with rape threats directed at her daughters. Later that month, M.Y. The men each contributed $40,000 to the endeavor. They didnt play Stairway to Heaven or have Periscope accounts. November 7, 2018, marked the beginning of legal repercussions for Young. He pleaded not guilty to the . 1:07. So what? Jeff refilled M.Y.s prescriptions for Percocet and Valium and gave him a new one for hydrocodone. But one thing that I was really curious about is how you actually went from having opioids being a thing that existed to having opioids be a thing that existed in peoples medicine cabinets. Khazan: Her husband had severe dehydration and was suffering from a heat stroke. He remarried in 2006. Khazan: Does that change how you feel about him? The Rock Doc affectations, Louvaris said, merely show that hes different from other doctors. Naylor: (A long beat and a breath.) Longoria: And what part of the crisis were you most focused on? Tune in today! In February 2016, he texted one of his opioid patients, a police officer named Jay Green. I dont I dont even know what to say. Music by Parish Council (Dabbles), water feature (ariel), Arabian Prince in a UK World (The Feeling of Being on a Diet), Keyboard (Being There and My Atelier), and Column (The Art of Fun (Raj) and Sensuela), provided by Tasty Morsels. In the past five years, at least 40 medical providers nationwide have been accused of exchanging sex for addictive drugs. One January morning, officers swarmed the road outside the PreventaGenix building, guns drawn. And I said, And they say that youre trading sex for medication. He was like, You know, these motherfuckers lie all the damn time. [Chuckles.] Hed also given her tips on how to eat better and how to lose weight. Khazan: In one sense, I understand some of Jeffs patients defensiveness toward him. Khazan: This is Tanya Ballard. A staffer, who declined to talk on the record, asked me why I was writing about him. They are often too under-resourced and understaffed to keep a watchful eye on all medical providers. Jeff immediately sees that he is inyou know, hes in pretty bad shape. 0:04. To get from pharma lab to medicine cabinet, the drug needed to pass through one of the most sacred spaces in America. Many people trust doctors even when theyre harmed by their treatment, and a 2008 study found that people are more likely to spend time researching a new employer or a new car than vetting a new surgeon. Nearly a fifth of the citys residents live below the poverty line, and many are afflicted with chronic diseases that often accompany the stresses of a low income. He didnt pull any punches, she said. The nurse practitioner Jeffrey Young produced a reality-TV pilot in which he branded himself "the Rock Doc., The week that followed Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination was revolutionaryso why was it nearly forgotten? Editing by Katherine Wells, Julia Longoria, and Denise Wills. The clinic sat on a quiet road crammed with other medical practicesa sleep doctor, a dentist, a nephrologist, an orthodontisteach in its own brick McMansion. 0:06. Hed wear Halloween masks and make off-color jokes. However, many of Youngs online supporters have remained loyal. This distinction is important, because while nurse practitioners are functioning in the same capacity as physiciansordering and interpreting Because he prescribed my opiates, and I took them as prescribed, and I had no problems with it. They go on working. I visited Youngs clinic, but, through a staffer, he declined to speak with me. #coffeeplease #noontime #rockrageradio www.rockrageradio.com Then and over the ensuing months, I spoke with dozens of Youngs friends, enemies, alleged victims, and former co-workers. Then it fades out.). Khazan: In 2017, the very public world Jeff had built around himself started attracting a different kind of attention. I just asked him. Khazan: A lot of them, unfortunately, went with it. All of them said that they didnt think Jeff sexually abused them. When I visited the clinic shortly before the hearing, Young had just finished up with a patient. He was always polite. But none of these barred the Rock Doc from getting drugs into the hands of patients. And you can kind of look at it like locker-room talk . He wasnt in pain. Listen to the trailer for. She wasnt the only patient to stick by him. His lawyer also declined to answer any specific allegations. Mellow and slow, it moves under the narration the way water moves through a stream.). Thats the only way you can describe it. (Fades under.). On my trip, I strolled by a glass case near the federal courthouse that held a large Bible opened to the Gospel of John. How was a nurse practitioner whose behavior was so outrageous allowed to treat patients for so long? But Young soon revealed a blustering personality that started to overwhelm the team project. ], Oh, you look fine to me.. Young would call these liaisons nooners or say it was tap-that-ass Tuesday, according to court testimony. He found diseases, for example, that other doctors missed. You may not like my rock and roll. He didnt mind saying a curse word or two.. Im too good for you because I got this money, or whatever. Scott Deberry: Kinda made it start seeming like he was unprofessional. Whatever the inspiration, his new persona was good for business. I didnt know that. Khazan: Like, for example, here he is sniffing a pair of womens underwear with his sidekick, a friend named Kevin. Young: Hi, my name is Jeff Young. He has three children, two sons, and a daughter, from his first marriage. An active and fun show following the life of FNP Jeff Young II at work and his life after work. To date, none of the alleged victims in Youngs court case has come forward publicly to speak against him. Khazan: He worked in the timber industry, and one day at work, he got overheated and disoriented. Young had also allegedly begun siphoning off $100 almost every day from the clinic for his personal expenses, according to former employees. At this point, the people of Jackson knew the full extent of officials suspicions about Young. But the more time I spent thinking about it, the more I started to realize that Jeff has a point. He would try to squeeze in even more patient visits each daysometimes well over 50, former employees sayand would either forget to document services or would document services he hadnt provided. Khazan: Do you feel like Jeff has done more harm than good? I dont. I mean, you could just kind of tell you could trust him. Everybody pay fucking attention worldwide because Im about to save this motherfuckers lifelive on Periscope broadcast! Jeffrey Young was one of those people. Sound design by David Herman. Khazan: But the pilot also showed the other side of Jeff. (Soft percussive synthesizer music plays.). Khazan: In 2016, Jeff tried to broadcast his world even more widely. In 2016, Young, who was 42 at the time, invited a cameraman to shoot a pilot episode about his life as a nurse practitioner in Jackson, Tennessee. Young became known for putting drugs into the hands of almost anyone who asked. 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