Sunday, May 2, 2010

Utah Attorney Struggles With Prescription Drugs


An attorney from St. George, Utah was arrested for prescription drug fraud last month. The story is here. Michael Lastowski is charged with using different doctors to obtain a controlled substance.

Lastowski allegedly purchased two similar drugs using prescriptions from different doctors. But neither doctor was aware of the prescription from the other doctor. Police said it is against the law to fail to tell a doctor that you already have a prescription from another doctor. Police also said that the prescriptions had been altered.

Prescription drug abuse is taking a prescription medication that is not prescribed for you, or taking it for reasons or in dosages other than as prescribed. Of course, the abuse of prescription drugs can produce serious health effects, including addiction. Once addicted, the abuser may resort to extreme and sometimes unlawful measures to obtain more of the drug.

Lastowski is innocent until proven guilty. But the fact pattern here would illustrate this point.

A nifty government fact sheet about the abuse of prescription drugs can be found here.

"One pill makes you . . .'



Link Back to Substance Abuse CLE - California Approved MCLE