JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Riverside woman was arrested Tuesday on charges of practicing medicine without a license after she illegally wrote prescriptions for her boyfriend, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
Pamela Corley, 54, was employed as a medical assistant at a Riverside doctor's office until detectives linked her to prescription medicine fraud, according to her arrest report.
The investigation began Monday when police said they were called to a Riverside Walgreens to investigate her boyfriend, Mickey Crigger.
Detectives said Crigger tried to purchase oxycodone and other prescription narcotics with a prescription from Dr. Barakat's office.
Crigger told police Corley, who worked for Barakat, wrote the prescriptions for him.
According to the arrest report, Corley admitted writing the prescription on a blank prescription pad she found in the doctor's office.
The office manager told News4Jax Wednesday that Barakat is not ready to make a comment right now because the case is still under investigation.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said this type of prescription fraud is not unheard of, but people who commit this crime often get caught because they get too greedy.
"Sometimes they make a mistake by over-prescribing when they're committing a fraud," Smith said. "They'll ask for 100 to 200 pills, something that is way over the norm."
Smith said another red flag to pharmacists is someone trying to obtain depressants and stimulants at the same time.
"A doctor is not going to prescribe both, so that's someone who's trying to get both and sell them on the streets," Smith said.
In this case, Corley told police she wrote the prescriptions for her boyfriend because he suffered from back pain, according to the Sheriff's Office.