Avoid Committing This Healthcare Crime
Prescription drug fraud is a rampant issue in the United States. Drug addicts can fuel their addiction by committing crimes in a place where, ironically, their health and well-being is a #1 priority: Doctors’ offices.
You may be curious about why prescription fraud is so common in the US, especially California. People trust nurses and doctors to have their best interests in mind when treating their medical problems and providing health care. Further, these medical professionals endured over a decade of schooling, residency programs and state license applications to take care of people.
The reality is, even doctors and other medical professionals can’t easily detect prescription fraud, no matter how many decades of experience in the medical field they have.
California Prescription Drug Fraud Laws
Under California Health and Safety Code 11368, every person who commits the following acts will be punished in the county jail or state prison for 6 months to 1 year:
- forges or alters a prescription
- issues or utters an altered prescription
- issues or utters a prescription bearing a forged or fictitious signature for any narcotic drug
- obtains any narcotic drug by any forged, fictitious, or altered prescription
- possesses any narcotic drug secured by a forged, fictitious, or altered prescription
According to California Health and Safety Code 11173, no person shall obtain or attempt to obtain controlled substances, or procure or attempt to procure the administration of or prescription for controlled substances by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge, or by the concealment of a material fact. Further, it is illegal to:
- make a false statement in any prescription, order, report, or record
- falsely assume the title of, or represent himself to be, a manufacturer, wholesaler, pharmacist, physician, dentist, veterinarian, registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or another authorized person to obtain controlled substances
- affix any false or forged label to a package or receptacle containing controlled substances
Types of Fraudulent Prescriptions
The Diversion Control Division under the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) outlines examples of prescription fraud. They include:
- stealing legitimate prescription pads from physicians' offices and writing prescriptions for fictitious patients
- Altering the physician's prescription to obtain additional amounts of legitimately prescribed drugs
- getting prescription pads from a legitimate doctor and printing them with a different call back number that is answered by an accomplice to verify the prescription
- calling in their own prescriptions and giving their telephone number as a call back confirmation
- Using computers to create prescriptions for nonexistent doctors or copy legitimate doctors' prescriptions
Accused? You’ve Come to the Right Place.
If you’re facing prescription drug fraud accusations, fight for freedom with the help of our Oakland drug crime lawyer at the Law Office of Nabiel C. Ahmed. For over a decade, we’ve helped clients in your shoes overcome criminal charges that had the potential to cause irreversible damage to their lives.
Do yourself a life-changing favor and contact (510) 907-6600 to retain our proven criminal defense attorney to represent your legal case and protect your best interests!