FBI will retrieve records for patients of Fayette physician arrested on drug charges

Patients of a Fayette County physician who was arrested last month and charged with swapping opioids for sex found themselves at odds when they tried to retrieve their medical records from his shuttered practice.

But authorities said Tuesday that they have set up a process for patients to retrieve their medical records through the FBI in Pittsburgh.

Dr. Emilio Ramon Navarro's Perryopolis family practice office closed after he was arrested on Sept. 23 on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with 28 counts of trading opioids for sex and health care fraud for billing the drugs to Medicaid.

Navarro, 58, of Coal Center, was released on $50,000 bond after pleading not guilty to the charges.

The FBI established an email address to handle questions about medical records after patients began calling the office seeking access to their records. Catherine Varnum Policicchio, public affairs specialist for the FBI Field Office in Pittsburgh, said patients can email requests for records to PG-HEALTHCARE@fbi.gov.

“Patients will be asked to provide personal information in order to their obtain records. This information includes: full name, DOB, address and phone number. It will take a week to ten days to copy the records and return them to patients. FBI Pittsburgh will call to set up a time to obtain a copy of their records,” Policicchio said.

Patients must provide a photo ID when they come to retrieve their records.

Charging documents alleged Navarro dispensed oxycodone and oxymorphone to a person identified in court papers only as “A.W.” in exchange for sexual favors.

Navarro apparently had a thriving practice in the small Fayette County town. Authorities told the Tribune-Review when they arrived at Navarro’s office at 7 a.m. on Sept. 23, 50 people were in line outside the office, which opens at 8:30 a.m.