5th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) 2.95E

PHARMACIST

21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b); 21 C.F.R. § 1306.04(a)

Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1), makes it a crime for any person, except as

authorized, to knowingly and intentionally distribute or dispense a controlled substance. Title 21,

Code of Federal Regulation, Section 1306.04(a), authorizes registered pharmacists licensed by the

state to dispense controlled substances via a prescription, but only if the prescription is issued for

a legitimate medical purpose by a physician [nurse practitioner] acting in the usual course of his

[her] professional practice.

____________ (name controlled substance) is a controlled substance within the meaning

of this law.

For you to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must be convinced that the

government has proved each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:

First: That the defendant distributed or dispensed a controlled substance;

Second: That the defendant did so knowingly or intentionally;

Third: That the defendant was not authorized to distribute or dispense the controlled

substance, in that it was prescribed other than for a legitimate medical purpose or outside the usual

course of professional practice; and

Fourth: That the defendant knowingly or intentionally filled a prescription the defendant

knew was not issued for a legitimate medical purpose or was outside the usual course of

professional practice.

A controlled substance is “distributed” if it is delivered or transferred.

“Dispensing” a controlled substance includes writing a prescription.

A prescription is “authorized” if it is issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an

individual practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice.

A controlled substance is prescribed by a physician [practitioner] for a legitimate medical

purpose in the usual course of professional practice if the physician [practitioner] acts in

accordance with the standards of medical practice generally recognized or accepted in the United

States, or has a reasonable basis for deviating from this standard of care.

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