Venice business owners files a defamation complaint against Eric Robinson

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

I was able to find one of the Facebook postings that Paul references in his complaint. You can read that posting by clicking — >>> here. I am surprise that he filed a complaint against Eric alone and not the Facebook page owner, based upon the posting. Perhaps he has and I am not aware of it. Paul’s complaint against Eric can be viewed by clicking — >>> here

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STATEMENT of Paul Sloan- Complaint attached

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWELFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA

PAUL A. SLOAN,

Plaintiff,

ERIC ROBINSON,

Defendant.

CASE NO.: 2022 CA 005634 NC

Sarasota: On December 7, 2022 the above captioned legal complaint was filed in Circuit Court against Eric Robinson for defamation per se which seeks damages in excess of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00), Mr. Robinson published multiple false and defamatory statements about me on social media (Facebook).

Defamation per se:

”Under the Florida Defamation Law, defamation “per se” refers to a legal doctrine that the statements said or published are so egregious that even without proven malice, the court will presume that they harmed your reputation. More so, the awarded damages of this crime include past and future harm sustained in the society, humiliation, mental and emotional injuries. And even economic loss caused by the defamation.”

Mr. Robinson posted statements on multiple Facebook sites from both his personal FB account as well as his School Board candidate account (still active) naming me as a “Drug Dealer”, eluded that I “peddled pain killers to little children” and that I make “money destroying people’s lives”. These statements are beyond outrages as they are statements of criminal activity.

Such defamatory discourse is not without consequence, and I am seeking the full protection of law against Mr. Robinson who recklessly engaged in libel to destroy my reputation and threaten my livelihood.

For the past 16 years I have owned and operated First Choice Pain Care Clinic (FCPC), a Pain Management Clinic in Sarasota County; a clinic that has been a licensed State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the same agency that licenses and inspects Florida Hospitals, additionally the clinic is licensed by the State of Florida Department of Health. The Clinic is intensively inspected by AHCA, State DOH (including medical chart reviews) and Sarasota County under its Pain Management Clinic ordinance of which I originally drafted though slightly modified through public hearings. To this date the clinic has never had a noted deficiency is any of it inspections. It should be noted that FCPC does not provide pediatric pain care.

In addition to the Pain Management Clinic I am also the administrator and controlled substance compliance officer of a multi-physician, multi- location medical practice, additionally, I am the official point of contact (POC) on eighteen (18) U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Controlled Substance Licenses.

Many people talk about the “Pill Mill” and opioid epidemic but no private citizen did more in the fight to bring the “Pill Mill” crisis to an end. My record of involvement is unmatched:

Sarasota County –

2007 – 2012 Worked with Sheriff Offices Prescription Drug Diversion Detective providing information that resulted in the arrest of dozens of drug diversion suspects, many actually being taken out of clinic in handcuffs.
2007 Hosted meeting at clinic for Sheriff Diversion Detectives from 6 counties.
2007 -2008 met with Sarasota County Sheriff (William Balkwill) on multiple occasions.
2010 Proposed a pain clinic moratorium (with language from Palm Beach) to the county commissioners which they enacted quickly.
Drafted a Pain Management Clinic Ordinance and submitted to the commissioners, the draft makes up the core of the Sarasota Pain Clinic ordinance.
Requested that County Commissioners pass a resolution to be delivered to the Governor supporting the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) – requested as the Governor was threatening to kill the program. The Commissioners passed resolution in record time.

State of Florida –

-2009: First Pain Management Clinic to become licensed by the State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) – the same agency that licenses and inspects Florida hospitals. License has been held to this date. All personnel are fingerprinted and FBI / FDLE Background cleared every 5 years.
-Successfully lobbied the legislature to require photo ID to be shown when picking up pain meds at a pharmacy.
-April 4, 2010: Emailed every elected county and city commissioner or council person on west coast of Florida urging them to pass a local pain clinic moratorium and supplied each with the Palm Beach County moratorium language. Within weeks of e-mail many municipalities had the 1^st read of their moratorium ordinance.
-Spent nearly 2 years working with the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine Joint Committee on Pain Clinics developing what are now the Pain Clinic Rules and Regulation. Only person to attend every meeting.
-Founder and President of the Florida Society of Pain Management Providers – 501(c6) formed to lobby state for reasonable laws to end the pill mill crisis. Successful in getting state statute language to do just that.
-Early proponent of the State Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) and the only Pain Management Clinic owner/administrator to be part of the Rulemaking Process.

I have collaborated with law enforcement and public officials to provide responsible pain management care for those who truly are in need of such care, and to prevent the abuse / diversion of pain medications. Robinson’s slanderous statements stand in sharp contrast to my documented record of collaboration and activism to create an environment which protects the public health along with ensuring that pain medication is available to those with chronic pain and used appropriately.

While I have many testimonials from public official’s regarding my efforts, I personally find former Sarasota County Commissioner Shannon Staub’s to be on point. Commissioner Staub sent this email to the Sarasota Herald Tribune as they published a story of a group that was taking credit for the things I had done which happened more than I could believe. For years I was extremely fortunate to work with an amazing group of county commissioners who listened and backed my efforts at every turn.

From: Shannon Staub [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, May 07, 2010 11:49 AM
To: Paul Sloan; [email protected]; [email protected]
Cc: Nora Patterson; Joseph Barbetta; Carolyn Mason; Jon Thaxton; ‘Baker, Charolett’
Subject: RE: today’s story / pain clinics

Mr. Sloan has been talking to us (County Commissioners) for several years about trying to help get the State to pass a comprehensive plan to track the good pain management clinics but get rid of those that are not using legal nor ethical standards in their clinics. We have written and discussed the issue with our State representatives and senators.

I was surprised to read about the group quoted. I don’t recall ever being contacted by them.

I was also surprised that Mr. Sloan was not included in the article since he really has been the leader in getting the State to pass a sufficient, viable law.

He approached us by email to look at an ordinance for a moratorium several weeks ago.

Just thought you ought to know the background of my/our contact with Mr. Sloan. I believe we own him our thanks for raising the issue several years ago and persevering at the State and local level to get this issue addressed.

Shannon

Shannon Staub, Commissioner

Sarasota County Commission