Supreme Court ruling takes side of doctors convicted in pain pill schemes

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for doctors who face criminal charges for overprescribing powerful pain medication in a case arising from the opioid addiction crisis.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court that prosecutors must prove that doctors knew they were illegally prescribing powerful pain drugs in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The ruling came as the U.S. has been seeing record numbers of drug overdose…