Ex-patient of doc charged with over-prescribing says he made her sick

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For some he was doctor "feel good" distributing more than half a million pain pills in just this year alone.

Former Dearborn Dr. Mohammed Derani's license was revoked and he sat in handcuffs Friday, charged with four counts of delivering a controlled substance.

His clinic's assistant, 28-year-old Zhara Alwajed, of Detroit, faces four counts of aiding and abetting in the delivery of controlled substances including Adderall and hydrocodone. Each count is 20 years in prison.

The Michigan Attorney General Office says an investigation began last month after police received an anonymous tip.

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The investigation revealed that Alwajed coached patients on which symptoms to present to Derani to get drugs. And Derani overprescribed heavily addictive and potentially deadly drugs.

A former patient Karen Thacker says a friend referred her to Derani several years ago.

Thacker has diabetes and high blood pressure. She says Derani told her to stop taking her insulin and threw her blood pressure medication in the garbage.

"The only thing he wanted to do is give you the drugs," she said. "Nothing else."

Neighbors recorded the long lines outside the clinic before police and federal agents raided the clinic.

"I used to have to go there at 7:30 a.m. to be out by 3 p.m." she said. "All day."

Thacker recalled odd moments in Derani's office she says when she retired; she told him she switched from Medicaid to Medicare.

"When I did that he got excited and said 'Oooh I can make a lot of money off of you now,'" Thacker she said.

Thacker says one of the most alarming moments was when she says Derani ripped up paperwork sent over from her other doctor and said he didn't need it.

The doctor only gave Thacker Vicodin and Xanax. Thacker then, suffered a stroke.

"Wait a minute, I've got to get out of here, I'm going to die. That’s how I felt," she said.

She then found a new primary care doctor.

"She says he's a quack, he was giving me 120 Vicodins and 120 Xanax," a month.

Derani was given a $250,000 cash bond and faces 20 years in prison. Thacker, still worries and wonders about others.

"I believe he hurt me," she said. "So how many other people did he hurt besides me?"