Excela Health's former chief medical officer accused of illegally prescribing painkillers

A well-known Westmoreland County doctor has been charged with illegally writing more than 300 prescriptions in the names of relatives for hydrocodone, a powerful painkiller, that he personally filled and consumed over the past three years, according to complaints filed by investigators with the county's drug task force and the state attorney general's office.

Dr. Ralph A. Capone, 64, of Hempfield dabbed his eyes with a white handkerchief Wednesday as he sat at the defendant's table, listening to District Judge Mark Mansour list the 23 criminal counts against him. Capone is charged with illegal acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, illegally prescribing a controlled substance, identity theft and illegally prescribing drugs outside of the scope of a patient relationship.

Capone, an internist with an office in North Huntingdon, was the chief medical officer at Excela Health from 2007 to 2009 and the medical director at the now-defunct Jeannette District Memorial Hospital from 1996 to 2003.

“This doctor fraudulently obtained prescription drugs for personal use by using the names of his family members, at times even his children. Not only is this illegal, it could have impacted the quality of medical care that he was providing to his patients,” said state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

“This physician put the health care of his own family members at risk while fueling his own addiction,” he said.

After explaining the complaints investigators filed against him, Mansour asked Capone whether he understood the charges or had any questions.

Capone said he understood the complaints.

“I don't dispute any of this. ... It all happened,” he said.

Capone added that he had not yet hired an attorney because he did not intend to fight the allegations.

“You should probably consider hiring an attorney,” Mansour said before setting Capone's bond at $50,000 recognizance and scheduling his preliminary hearing for Oct. 24.

Capone declined to comment on the charges following his arraignment.

The probe began this summer when authorities received an anonymous tip via the federally monitored 411 drug tip line. The tipster said Capone was inappropriately prescribing narcotics for family members, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by North Huntingdon Detective Kirk Youngstead, a member of the county drug task force.

Youngstead alleges that from 2014 until last month, Capone illegally wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone syrup and pills in the name of his son, Ralph; daughter, Lauren; brother, Robert; mother, Laura; and wife, Andrea, which he personally filled and paid for at various pharmacies in Greensburg, Hempfield and Jeannette.

“The pharmacist at each pharmacy verified that to his or her knowledge, the prescriptions were dropped off by Dr. Capone and picked up by Dr. Capone himself,” Youngstead said.

On Aug. 22, federal, state and county agents executed a search warrant at Capone's home on Farmington Place.

“Dr. Ralph Capone gave investigators a written statement saying that the residence contained no records of any family members and the hydrocodone syrup was used by the doctor himself without any family member's knowledge that the prescriptions were ever written,” Youngstead wrote in the affidavit.

Capone also told agents that he had no medical records for any family members at his office.

Capone took agents to his garage, where he pulled out a tool box that contained a prescription bottle containing 325 tablets of hydrocodone prescribed for his wife and two bottles of hydrocodone syrup that were prescribed in his daughter's name.

The pharmacies where Capone filled the prescriptions reported that all the prescriptions were in dosages ranging from a seven- to 14-day supply and were filled “on an approximate monthly basis,” Youngstead wrote.

Capone's medical license is active and not set to expire until Dec. 31, 2018. It was last renewed in October 2016.

Since he was first licensed in 1979, he has had no disciplinary actions, online records show.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib.