In that case — Burrage v. United States — the justices unanimously ruled the courts cannot impose a more severe penalty on a defendant if the drug provided by the physician is “not independently sufficient cause of the victim’s death or serious bodily injury.”
Although today’s order by the court was unanimous, Justice Samuel Alito wrote separately to say that “nothing in today’s order should be understood as suggesting that” Volkman “is entitled to acquittal.”
Alito also wrote that court order “has no bearing on” Volkman’s “other convictions for conspiracy to unlawfully distribute a controlled substance, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, maintaining a drug ¬involved premises, and possession of a firearm in further¬ance of a drug-trafficking offense.
Volkman ran three pill mills in southeastern Ohio from 2003 to 2006.
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