Prescription Drug Fraud

Prescription Drug Fraud Cases dominate the news.   Although prescription drug fraud may be committed (even unwittingly) in many ways, the most common prosecution is for violations of Ch. 893.13 (7)(a) 8., Fla. Stat. (2007).   The text of that statute provides:

“To withhold information from a practitioner from whom the person seeks to obtain a controlled substance or a prescription for a controlled substance that the person making the request has received a controlled substance or a prescription for a controlled substance of like therapeutic use from another practitioner within the previous 30 days.”

Said simply, if a citizen even attempts to obtain a controlled substance from a doctor, within 30 days of having received the same or even a  similar  substance from another doctor within 30 days, and the citizen doesn’t tell the 2nd doctor about having received the earlier substance, he or she is guilty of violating the statute.

This crime initially was categorized as a 1st degree misdemeanor, but in the late 1990′s was enhanced to become a 3rd degree felony, which means the offender is eligible, if convicted, to go to prison for up to 5 years, be placed on probation for 5 years, to receive a $5,000.00 fine, or become burdened by some combination of those 3 penalties.

Jonathan Jay Kirschner, Esq., has been defending these cases for many years. We represent Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and other medical personnel, as well as innocent citizens wrongfully prosecuted for prescription drug crimes.

Whether the charge is Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, “Dr. Shopping”, or altering a legally issued prescription, Jonathan Jay Kirschner, Esq., has successfully defended all such prosecutions, and is among the among the leading practitioners in the Treasure Coast area in this highly specialized litigation.