WHEELING, W.Va. -- A federal prosecutor says a doctor facing a drug distribution charge in West Virginia has died.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says 46-year-old Douglas Paul Broderick died March 20 of an apparent heart attack.

Ihlenfeld says prosecutors filed a motion today in federal court to dismiss the charge.

A federal grand jury in Wheeling charged Broderick in December with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He was accused of supplying large quantities of prescription drugs for no legitimate medical purpose.

Broderick ran clinics in Jacksonville, Fla., and Rock Hill, S.C. Both had in-house pharmacies.

Ihlenfeld says some of Broderick's customers were from the Ohio Valley.

Seventeen co-defendants have pleaded guilty. Two others are awaiting trial.