Photo by Jon Anderson
DEA
About a dozen agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today executed a search warrant at a Hoover doctor’s office on South Shades Crest Road, according to the DEA.
The agents arrived at Hoover Alt MD at 3421 South Shades Crest Road about 10:30 a.m. to remove any evidence they could find related to the prescriptions of narcotics without a legitimate medical need, said Bret Hamilton, the DEA’s assistant special agent in charge for Alabama.
Hamilton said the search warrant is part of an ongoing investigation that includes the cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hoover Police Department, Alabama Pharmacy Board and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
No charges have been filed in the investigation, and no one was taken into custody, Hamilton said.
However, this is the second such search warrant executed in the state in recent weeks, he said. A similar search occurred in Montgomery two weeks ago, he said.
Over the past three years, the DEA has investigated and convicted 10 Alabama doctors for prescribing narcotics without a legitimate medical need, Hamilton said.
The newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay Town, has stated he would vigorously prosecute these types of cases, Hamilton said.
“As long as there are doctors in the state of Alabama prescribing narcotics without a legitimate medical need, the DEA will continue to investigate,” he said.
The Hoover Alt MD website indicates the office provides an innovative type of medical practice, combining traditional family medicine for the whole family with complementary and alternative medical therapies and practices.
Alternative care offered there includes natural medicine, acupuncture, biofeedback, hypnosis, bioidentical hormone balancing, sensory stimulation and breast thermography, according to the website.
The practice also provides counseling, prayer, relaxation therapy, natural and medicated weight loss treatments, fitness advice, pain management, suboxone addiction recovery services, botox, facials, chemical peels and blemish removal, according to the website.
Dr. Elizabeth Campbell Korcz is listed as the physician at the office, and her husband, Matthew Korcz, is listed as the office manager. Dr. Korcz graduated first in her class from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta in 2005 and completed her internship at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and her residency at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, according to the website. She studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine under a Taiwanese physician during medical school, her internship and in Birmingham, the website said.
Efforts to reach the doctor's office for comment were unsuccessful.
