Forging or Altering a Prescription – Health & Safety Code 11368
As you might guess, because the government controls narcotics and dispenses them, anyone who forges a prescription is at risk of severe legal consequences. This risk is heightened for those in the medical field, as they could not only face criminal charges but also risk losing their license and facing administrative charges.
Prosecutors and judges are unwavering in their seriousness when it comes to punishing medical professionals who dispense drugs that should not be dispensed or forge any documentation. The gravity of the situation is clear, especially when the forging is done to obtain drugs for personal use or illegal sale.
Stealing and Forging Prescription Pads
Also, they will take other prescription medication pads that they have gotten where the doctor has issued them a prescription. They will forge that to try to get more controlled narcotics — either because they're addicted or because they're getting the drugs so they can sell them.
It's a common practice among addicts to forge prescriptions in an attempt to obtain certain medications. Drugs like Vicodin, Hydrocodone, OxyContin, and other controlled substances are often the target of such fraudulent activities. The prevalence of this issue should not be underestimated.
The authorities have tried to put measures in place to stop people from being able to forge medical prescriptions, but because of how they're written, the number of doctors there are, and the number of people trying to seek prescriptions. I still have not seen an effective way to prevent this.
The government controls this area of the law regarding doctors and prescriptions because of the potential dangers.
So, usually, where I see these false prescription cases or altering a prescription or writing a lousy prescription under a related crime, California Business and Professions Code 4324 is when somebody may become addicted to pain pills.
They will start tampering with a valid prescription – adding things, taking things off, and signing the doctor's name on something.
Maybe they get the doctor's pad for writing prescriptions, or perhaps they make it on the internet and make a prescription. They know what the doctor's signature looks like. They're already a doctor's patient and want more of a particular drug or medication, so they alter the prescription and get more.
I've seen them doing this multiple times and getting multiple prescriptions, either to support an addiction or maybe even to sell the drugs.
There are all sorts of stuff going on here. I had a case recently where a client was alleged to not only be altering a prescription but also messing around with her work-related documents, which gave her time off work because of an injury she had that she was taking prescription medication.
Forgery
So, she was signing the doctor's name on the prescription and the paperwork that allowed her to stay out of work and get paid for it. The government will come in on that and prosecute that person because that person is fraudulently obtaining money from the government.
Again, any time a prescription is altered, the legal system is unwavering in its response. They will come down hard on individuals involved in this type of behavior, especially if it involves a doctor or a nurse—somebody within the legal profession doing something illegal or tampering or altering or forging some prescription.
They don't want this type of activity because of the inherent danger that exists for patients and the public at large.
It also strikes at the integrity of our prescription medication system when people can falsely get medication when they're messing around with the paperwork and altering certain things, especially if they begin to sell the medication.
This not only poses a risk to the individual involved in the fraud but also to the public at large, as it undermines the safety and integrity of the healthcare system.
Now, you have no checks and balances related to prescription medication dispensing, which the government cannot permit. Not only does that lead to danger for society, but it also takes away potential profits.
If people are selling it on the black market, then the government will not get a piece of it, and that's one of the things that is very important to the government—that they get their money.
Doctor Shopping and Prescription Fraud
Also, hopping from doctor to doctor, either with a forged prescription or even with a legitimate prescription, is something that happens a lot because people are addicted to drugs.
The doctors will only give them so much, only give them so many refills, and because they're addicted, they need to get more, so they will go from doctor to doctor – commonly known as doctor-shopping prescription fraud.
There should be some effective system in a computer similar to the control of guns where they can control prescription medication, but I haven't seen it yet.
Unfortunately, prescription fraud and hopping from doctor to doctor are common crimes that are committed all the time by individuals who are addicted to drugs by medical professionals who are associated with medical offices and even by physicians who need money and turn to illegal means to gain that money.
So, if you have one of these prescription fraud cases under Health & Safety Code Section 11368, please call me.
We'll sit down and talk about it. One good thing is that I think a lot of the possession Propositions and new laws the legislature has passed have also been helpful in the prescription fraud area in trying to help those people who are addicted to drugs instead of throwing them in jail or prison.
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