(Wall Street Journal) – Many who have died of overdoses in this retirement haven in recent years have a common thread. They were Medicare patients of Dr. Ricky Lockett, a local pain specialist. Lockett is one of the nation’s most prolific prescribers of opioid painkillers to elderly or disabled people covered by the federal program, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare data.

At least 21 of his Medicare patients died of drug overdoses between 2017 and 2021, the highest number for any doctor in the U.S., the analysis showed. Scores more survived overdoses. Some of them mixed prescription and street drugs. (Read More)