WHEN HEALER TURNED FIGHTER

A Padma Shri surgeon who spent 1,301 days in prison recalls his battle against the American justice system

- POOJA BIRAIA

When the FBI knocked on his door on a cold December morning in 2018, Dr Raj Bothra had no idea that his life was about to unravel. "I asked them, what was the reason [they came]?" he recalls. "They said, 'We cannot tell you. The judge will tell you.' One of the agents said, 'You know, you're lucky we caught you outside. We usually knock on the door and barge in while most people are still asleep."

What followed was a tale fit for a Netflix documentary.

The FBI's case against Bothra and five of his colleagues—associated with The Pain Center USA and Interventional Pain Center—was placed in the wider opioid crisis. Clinics across the US were under the scanner for alleged overprescription of controlled substances. The government accused the group of defrauding Medicare (the national health insurance programme) and fuelling addiction by prescribing opioids “without legitimate medical purpose”.

The alleged fraud spanned from January 2013 to November 2018. As per the prosecutors, “Bothra prescribed some 12 million highly addictive Schedule II drugs.” He was accused of running “pill mills,” and fuelling “the social devastation of the opioid crisis claiming thousands of young lives”.

Bothra insists the charges were exaggerated and were “a desperate attempt to show action during a national crisis”. He says his practice, with 25,000 patients, was singled out because of its size and success.

Cut to 2025, and his life, spanning two continents and one unrelenting fight for justice, is finding its space on the silver screen. “I was just reading the final script a few days ago,” the 81-year-old tells THE WEEK on a morning call from Detroit. “It is very well done. I’m happy about that.”

In the movie directed by Ravi K. Chandran, Kabir Bedi will play the older Bothra, while Ankur Bhatia will portray his younger days in Mumbai.