Sharks staff member arrested on prescription fraud charges

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A member of the Jacksonville Sharks  medical staff was arrested Thursday on accusations of prescription fraud.

Douglas Kleiner, 49, the assistant general manager of sports medicine for the arena football team, is also facing charges of dispensing prescription or medical drugs without a license, trafficking in controlled substances, distributing schedule III opium or derivative and practicing or attempting to practice medicine without a valid medical license.

Kleiner is being held in the Duval County jail with bail set at $40,012.

According to the Sharks' website, Kleiner oversees all medical services for the organization.

According to the site, he previously served as a tenured associate professor and founding program director for the sports medicine/athletic training education program at the University of North Florida, followed by being an associate professor of medicine for the University of Florida Health Science Center at Shands Jacksonville, in both orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine and was the division chief of pre-hospital services (including sports medicine) and the director of research.

Kleiner currently holds an academic position as an associate professor of emergency medicine at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, according to the website.

Late Thursday, Sharks Managing Partner Jeff Bouchy released the following statement on the Kleiner's arrest:

"The Jacksonville Sharks fully cooperated with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office throughout this entire investigation. As soon as I understood the seriousness of the allegations, I asked for Mr. Kleiner's resignation. Mr. Kleiner was not and has never been a Sharks team doctor. All Sharks team doctors have acted professionally in every manner and we continue to have the best medical team in the arena football league."