Jeannette doctor charged with giving narcotics that caused 2 patients' deaths

A former family practice doctor in North Huntingdon faces criminal charges for allegedly overprescribing narcotics that caused the deaths of two patients in 2016.

Agents from the state Attorney General's Office on Friday charged Dr. Michel P. Toret, 71, of Jeannette with two counts of drug delivery resulting in death, manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance, illegally providing prescriptions after his license was surrendered and violating accepted treatment principles in the medical profession.

At an arraignment hearing, District Judge Wayne Gongaware released Toret on a $5,000 recognizance bond pending a Jan. 24 preliminary hearing.

Toret had practiced medicine more than 40 years and voluntarily surrendered his medical license in November 2016 after the U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration began inquiries into his prescribing practices, according to online records.

Toret is accused of overprescribing methadone, a narcotic, to Heather Dervin, 26, of North Huntingdon, who died Sept. 6, 2016, and oxymorphone to Glenn Morgan, 30, of Level Green, who died Oct. 10, 2016, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Jerry Vernail, an agent with the Attorney General's Office.

“On Sept. 7, 2016, (Vernail) received information that Dr. Toret is a popular doctor among patients who visit an area methadone clinic,” Vernail wrote.

The state police intelligence unit at Troop A in Greensburg has been investigating Toret's practices, Vernail reported.

During the probe, investigators spoke with employees of Toret's practice, who said he saw about 35 patients a day.

“A typical office visit was being weighed by a nurse and obtaining prescriptions for narcotics in about two minutes,” Vernail wrote in the affidavit.

Former employee Brittney Finnegan told investigators that she warned Toret about his prescription practices with Dervin and had warned him that “she was going to die,” Vernail reported.

Toret wrote prescriptions for Morgan that were picked up and filled locally by family members, who mailed the medication to him in Kansas, where he was working, Vernail reported. Morgan died in a hotel room in Emporia, Kan., of an opioid overdose.

Next to Morgan's bed, Emporia police found bottles of pills “prescribed by Dr. Toret and dated Oct. 8, 2016,” Vernail wrote.

Dr. Stephen Thomas, a Pittsburgh pain management specialist hired by the Attorney General's Office, told Vernail that “Dr. Toret's prescribing behavior was outside the usual course of his professional practice and was not in accordance with the accepted treatment principles of any responsible segment of the medical community,” the affidavit states.

“Whether you're a doctor or a dealer on a street corner, if you give someone drugs and it causes their death, you're facing a first-degree felony and jail,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “We're using every tool we have to hold doctors who overprescribe opioids, and dealers who sell heroin, fentanyl and other deadly drugs, accountable for the carnage they're causing across Pennsylvania.”

Toret's attorney, Michael J. DeRiso of Pittsburgh, defended his client's medical career but said they have to review the allegations to see if they will contest the charges.

“I have been representing Dr. Toret over the past year since this first arose, and I can tell you that I believe he is a man of exemplary character. You're talking about a man who had a well-thought-of practice in the area for over 40 years,” DeRiso said. “But there were a couple of deaths as a result of opioid prescriptions, and now he's got caught up in that.”

Toret is the second former physician in Westmoreland County to be charged with drug delivery resulting in death. In February, state agents charged Dr. Edgar Derek Peske, 79, of Hempfield with prescribing Nicole Henderson. 30, of Unity Township with methadone that caused her death.

Peske is awaiting trial this spring.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib