Pill fraud linked to heroin epidemic

Late last month, Bentleyville pharmacy owner Andrew F. Kuzy pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, unlawful dispensing of a controlled substance and filing a false claim.

He was sentenced to 22 to 44 months in prison. His crimes largely involved pain-killing drugs.

In Monessen, Erica Marie Ciepley agreed last fall to a plea of two years probation without verdict after being accused of calling in fake prescriptions to Rite Aid pharmacy.

Officials said she was seeking painkillers and other drugs.

Pharmaceutical fraud is not new, but it has become a symptom of the heroin epidemic, prosecutors agree.

“That's been a common practice as an avenue to obtain opioids,” Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said. “Often, people are on a prescription and the doctor discontinues that prescription, so they write their own fake prescription.”

Peck said fake prescriptions for pills are a revenue source for drug traffickers and those with serious drug habits.

“Some of these pills will go for as much as $10 apiece on the street,” Peck said. “That's why people move to heroin, because it's even cheaper.”

In October, then-Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law legislation to create the controlled substances database called Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program.

Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said that database, when up and running, should help curb prescription fraud.

The database will help health care professionals monitor who is getting what prescriptions.

Police and prosecutors would also have access to the database, said Vittone, adding, “We have to have a suspicion. We can't go on a fishing expedition.”

Vittone said a database might have aided police investing the Bentleyville case.

Kuzy had submitted $346,000 in false prescription claims to insurance companies and filled phony prescriptions for tens of thousands of narcotic pills, the state Attorney General's Office said when it charged him in October with drug diversion, Medicaid fraud, insurance fraud and theft by deception.

Kuzy's licenses to operate his pharmacy expired Sept. 30, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The investigation determined that Kuzy used 132 customers to bill insurance companies for medication they never received.

The Attorney General's Office said Kuzy provided several people with more than 33,000 oxycodone pills and other prescription drugs from Kuzy's Drug Store on Main Street in Bentleyville.

At the time Kuzy was charged, state Attorney General Kathleen Kane noted, “In Pennsylvania, there is a direct link between prescription drug abuse and heroin use. The diversion of prescription opioids directly threatens our families and communities by furthering the epidemic of abuse, as many addicts turn to heroin over time.”

Vittone said such cases are a symptom of the heroin epidemic.

“Eighty-five percent of heroin addicts start with prescription pills,” Vittone said.

“That could be that they are in pain and their prescription runs out. And, they turn to heroin, and it gets out of hand.”

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at cbuckley@tribweb.com or 724-684-2642