DOJ: Kingwood clinic owner sentenced for selling 3 million opioids to 'drug dealers'

KINGWOOD, Texas - The owner of a now-closed Kingwood clinic has been sentenced after officials say she used the clinic to sell opioids to "street-level drug dealers."

Kingwood clinic owner sentenced

What we know:

The Department of Justice (DOJ) says 68-year-old Maryam Qayum was sentenced on Tuesday to 12.5 years in prison. Officials say the doctor pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances.

According to the DOJ, Qayum owned the Recare Health Clinic along Loop 494 in Kingwood, just south of Kingwood Drive. The clinic was said to be used as a pill-mill where Qayum sold prescriptions for "high strength" opioids to "street-level drug dealers who were referred to Recare as ‘providers.’"

Qayum reportedly issued prescriptions for more than three million opioid pills between 2022 and 2025.

The DOJ says the clinic charged more to issue prescriptions for drugs "with higher street value." 

According to the DOJ, four other people were also sentenced in connection to the pill mill: a Recare security guard, a Recare nurse practioner, a pharmacist who filed Qayum's prescriptions, and a drug dealer who brought patients to Recare for prescriptions.

Nationwide healthcare fraud

Big picture view:

The charges for all five sentenced are tied to a nationwide operation targeting healthcare fraud.

In 2025, the DOJ reported 324 people were facing charges for schemes that costed $14.6 billion taken from health care programs. Almost 50 of those dependents were in Texas.

Crime and Public SafetyKingwoodTop Stories