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A 49-year-old doctor with a practice here has been charged with stealing prescription papers from another doctor and forging that doctor’s signature to illegally obtain prescription drugs.
Dr. R. Hutchinson of Springfield surrendered to detectives on Nov. 18 at Union Township Police Headquarters where he was charged with obtaining by fraud, uttering a forged document and receiving stolen property. He was released pending a future court date, police said in a release.
On Oct. 12 police responded to a doctor’s office on Galloping Hill Road for a report of a theft. A doctor at the office told police he was looking into some prior prescriptions he had written and realized his signature appeared to be forged, according to the release.
Detective Michael Theissen investigated and determined that on eight different occasions there were questionable prescriptions written to a fellow doctor in the practice with the unauthorized signature, the release states.
A variety of prescription drugs were received for each prescription that was written to the doctor’s co-worker. Theissen worked with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Opiate Task Force and Assistant Prosecutor Peter DeRose, the release states.