Published: 08/14/2026 | Author: Eric Owens

A Texas pill mill issued prescriptions for more than 3 million opioid pills over three years, and its sole prescriber has now been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.

Enforcement cases like this one change the supply rather than the demand, which is exactly why they matter to anyone living with opioid addiction right now.

Maryam Qayum, 68, of Montgomery County, Texas, owned and operated Recare Health Clinic in Kingwood and was its only prescriber. She pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances.

What the Court Documents Describe

According to court documents, Recare ran on cash and sold controlled substance prescriptions to street-level dealers, who were referred to inside the clinic as “providers.” Those buyers obtained prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone, two high-potency opioids.

Qayum issued the prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose and often without ever interacting with the patient whose name was on them. Between 2022 and 2025, when law enforcement shut the clinic down, she wrote prescriptions for more than 3 million opioid pills.

The pricing followed street value rather than medical need. A prescription for 30mg oxycodone cost as much as $500, while hydrocodone prescriptions typically ran $300, and clinic staff took extra payments to move certain patients and prescriptions to the front of the line.

Four other people have been sentenced in the case. Melvin Sampson, 56, of Houston, received 210 months for bringing patients to the clinic, filling the prescriptions, and reselling the drugs.

Tomi-Ko Bowers, 71, a nurse practitioner at Recare from Cleveland, Texas, received 96 months. Lester Stokes, 38, of Houston, the clinic’s security guard, received 63 months.

Jared Williams, 49, of Pearland, Texas, the pharmacist in charge and owner of Surge Rx, the pharmacy that filled the illegitimate prescriptions, received 42 months.

The DEA and the Conroe Police Department investigated. The case was prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Understanding Prescription Opioids and Overdose Risk

Oxycodone and hydrocodone are prescription opioids. Taken as directed for legitimate pain, they carry real risk of physical dependence. Taken at the doses that move through a diversion scheme, that risk rises sharply.

Physical dependence is not a moral failure or a character question. It is the body adapting to a substance, and it develops on its own timeline regardless of how the pills were obtained. Opioid use disorder is the clinical condition that can follow, and it is treatable.

The danger in the current drug supply is what happens after a prescription source ends. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is now common in counterfeit pills pressed to look like oxycodone or hydrocodone.

A person who has taken diverted pharmaceutical pills for years may have no way of knowing that what they buy next is a different drug entirely, at a dose that can stop breathing.

What Happens After a Pill Mill Closes

An enforcement action removes a source. It does not remove dependence, and it does not schedule anyone an appointment. People who were getting opioids through a clinic like Recare are left with three realistic paths.

They can go into withdrawal without support, which is where most people relapse. They can move to the illicit market, which is where fentanyl exposure and overdose risk climb. Or they can get into treatment.

The third path has the strongest evidence behind it. Buprenorphine and methadone are FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder that reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings and substantially lower the risk of fatal overdose. Naltrexone is an option after a person is no longer physically dependent. Federal rules have loosened over recent years to make buprenorphine easier to start, including through telehealth in many cases.

Peer Support for Opioid Addiction

Medication addresses the physiology. It does not address the part of recovery that happens between appointments, which is where peer support does its work.

Narcotics Anonymous is a peer-led fellowship for people recovering from drug addiction, built around a 12-step program and regular meetings. Meetings are free, and formats vary widely, including open meetings anyone can attend, closed meetings for people who identify as members, Spanish-language meetings, and virtual options.

Some members attend NA alongside medication treatment, and modern evidence supports medication for opioid use disorder, so the two are best understood as complementary rather than as competing choices. NA is one route among several, alongside SMART Recovery, individual therapy, and outpatient or residential treatment programs.

Finding Help for Opioid Addiction

If a prescribing source has ended or you are worried about your own use, treatment is available without a referral and without waiting for a crisis.

Search NA meetings by state and city to find something near you, including virtual meetings you can join tonight, and look up opioid treatment programs in your area that prescribe buprenorphine or methadone. You can call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) to learn more about your treatment options.