It was an inside job. A former medical assistant in Hastings, Michigan has accepted a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office, admitting she stole a doctor’s prescription pad and conspired with two others to forge prescriptions and obtain over 4,000 pills. They purchased opioid painkillers, Adderall and other narcotics that could be sold on [...]
Admitting that she stole narcotic painkillers from the hospital where she once worked as an operating room nurse, a Max Meadows woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 15 felony charges. As part of a plea agreement, 42-year-old Andrea Rebecca Crigger will be on probation for a year and some of her charges will be dismissed [...]
Joel Smithers established a medical practice in Martinsville from which he developed an illegal prescription drug trade that has him facing perhaps the rest of his life in federal prison. Smithers, 36, who lives in Greensboro, was found guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Abingdon of 861 federal drugs charges, including that his prescriptions [...]
A Sandy Springs resident has been convicted of prescribing opioid painkillers and other drugs under the guise of podiatric care. Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly, 56, a licensed podiatrist, has been found guilty on federal charges of illegally prescribing the drugs at clinics in Sandy Springs and Lithonia. In a May 9 news release, federal officials discussed [...]
Pawankumar Jain, 66, a former physician, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release for unlawfully dispensing controlled substances and health care fraud. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Kyle W. Williamson of the [...]
Dr. Stephen Loyd knew what it was like to live a double life. As a doctor from east Tennessee, he focused on how to improve the health of others, but behind closed doors, he was secretly needing help himself. Loyd first began abusing opioids in 2000 to ease his stress, anxiety and depression while working [...]
In the recent case of Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Sunnyside Home) v Ontario Nurses’ Association, an arbitrator reinstated a nurse battling with drug addiction after her employment had been terminated for theft of narcotics and for falsifying medical records. This decision emphasises an employer’s duty to inquire and meaningfully consider accommodation options when faced with [...]
A former registered nurse at UPMC Jameson Hospital is accused of dispensing higher amounts of narcotics for patients, but using the excess for himself. The state Office of the Attorney General has charged Chase Falba, 27, of Washington, Pa., in connection with the alleged incidents that reportedly occurred between April 6 and 11 last year. [...]
Two doctors and a nurse from Plano were sentenced to federal prison for the illegal distribution of opioids and other pharmaceutical controlled substances. Howard Gregg Diamond, 58, of Sherman, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and 10 years in prison for health care [...]
Arizona law requires doctors to check a state database before they write a new prescription for a controlled substance, such as opioids. Yet fewer than 40% do. Sheila Sjolander, an assistant director at the Arizona Department of Health Services, said department officials know that’s a problem they’re “all struggling” to address in the state’s fight against opioid [...]