Sigman, 40, of the 6000 block of 110th Street in Sebastian, was arrested Thursday along with Treasure Coast Pharmacy owner Peter Del Toro, his father and pharmacy vice president Richard Del Toro and pharmacy employee Jaclyn Rubino. Nine others also were taken into custody, including doctors, businesspeople and a chiropractor, according to the indictment.
The four Treasure Coast stakeholders were taken to Palm Beach County Jail, and the group of 13 faces various a 42-count indictment for attempting to distribute and actually distributing steroids, HGH and pain pills like oxycodone. Sigman, who works out of 1515 U.S. 1 in Sebastian, only faces charges for steroid and HGH distribution, according to the indictment. The 42-count indictment states the arrested parties could face a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Up until September 2010, Richard Del Toro, 60, of Port St. Lucie, helped manage Sebastian-based Health Transformations, a clinic owned and operated by Sigman at his home address, Department of State records show. The business dropped Richard Del Toro and added Sigman's wife, Elizabeth L. Sigman, as its registered agent last September, the records show.
Sigman employed medical professionals and salespeople, including the receptionist and office manager, to approve drug orders for steroids, HGH and other prescription drugs, the indictment said.
Customers paid Health Transformations for body-building, anti-aging and performance-enhancing drugs; the clinic sent Treasure Coast Pharmacy the order, and the pharmacy usually shipped the drugs right to its customers, according to the indictment.
Health Transformations cut checks to Richard Del Toro and Pharmville Consulting, a corporation of which Peter Del Toro, 38, of Palm City, is president, the indictment states.
DEA agents seized boxes of medical records from Treasure Coast Pharmacy during a late June raid. The agency hours later stripped the pharmacy's license to distribute controlled substances, and the state Department of Health ordered the pharmacy closed and suspended Peter Del Toro's pharmacist license.
Treasure Coast Pharmacy dispensed almost 11,000 steroid and human-growth hormone orders and 3,700 other addictive prescriptions, such as oxycodone, from October 2010 to March 31, according to a Department of Health emergency suspension order.
Doctors received the prescription orders, which were largely placed online, and signed off without in-person patient exams or regard for the orders' quantities or dosages, according to the order.
Peter Del Toro filled more than 84 percent of those prescriptions, according to the order, after 57 physicians — including 30 in Florida — signed off on them.
The drugs were shipped nationwide and internationally to locations like Finland, Guam and the Virgin Islands, according to the order.
The Department of Health still lists Sigman's doctor license as clear and active. He's board-certified in internal medicine, graduated from the American University of the Caribbean and completed a residency in Memphis, Tenn.
Sigman also has staff privileges at Indian River Medical Center and Sebastian River Medical Center, according to Department of Health records.
Department of Health spokeswoman Jennifer Hirst said the department has not yet decided if it plans to suspend Sigman's license.
It's not immediately clear if the arrest will affect his practice's operations.
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