Federal court approved October 2023 consent decree permanently barring Hobel from applying for DEA registration after he illegally prescribed opioids to himself, friends, and family between 2017 and 2021 using borrowed DEA numbers.

Jordan R. Hobel, D.D.S. / Mountain City Dental — Illegal Opioid Prescribing and Self-Diversion (2017–2023)

Outcome: U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin approved an October 2023 consent decree permanently barring former Frostburg dentist Jordan R. Hobel from applying for or seeking reinstatement of any DEA registration, resolving civil allegations that Hobel violated the Controlled Substances Act by illegally prescribing opioids between 2017 and 2021.

Jordan R. Hobel owned and practiced dentistry at Mountain City Dental in Frostburg, Maryland. Between 2017 and 2021, Hobel issued at least several dozen prescriptions for dangerous controlled substances that had no legitimate medical purpose and fell outside the usual course of professional dental or medical practice.

Hobel's violations took multiple forms. He fraudulently utilized the DEA registration numbers of other dentists in his practice to prescribe himself controlled substances, including oxycodone — evading direct attribution to his own DEA number. He also prescribed controlled substances to various friends and family members, some of whom were not his patients. Some of those recipients provided pills back to Hobel for his own use, creating a reciprocal diversion arrangement.

Hobel voluntarily surrendered his DEA registration for cause in 2022. The Department of Justice filed a civil action to enforce the Controlled Substances Act. In October 2023, a federal consent decree was approved requiring that Hobel never apply for or seek reinstatement of a DEA registration. The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

Primary Source: DOJ USAO-MD — U.S. District Court Maryland Enjoins Former Frostburg-Based Dentist from Prescribing Controlled Substances