A Calgary doctor recently discovered that his name was being used on forged prescriptions as they were shopped around pharmacies in Ontario. In his work as an anatomical pathologist at the Peter Lougheed Centre, Dr. James Cotton doesn't prescribe medication or see patients.
He spends most of his time behind a microscope analyzing biopsies and tissue samples. So it came as a surprise when his pager was recently bombarded with calls from pharmacies in the Toronto area asking about suspicious prescriptions, in his name, for large quantities of oxycodone. "It was just one after the other and it was different pharmacies from different areas of the greater Toronto region.
" Along with the forged prescriptions — for 180 oxycodone tablets and another medication used to treat some cancers — there was a cover letter claiming a patient was suffering from Stage 4 cancer and had relocated to Ontario. Forged prescriptions a growing concern in Alberta, pharmacists say "It is detailed. So it seems like they do have a little bit of understanding of what might be a reason someone might need this level of prescriptions," said Cotton.
The Ontario College of Pharmacists said it has received similar reports in the past about forged prescriptions using the name of Alberta-based physicians and it alerted its members in March. The college confirmed it had been contacted by Cotton. Alberta pharmacists have been on the lookout for fake prescriptions as well.
As CBC News reported in May , prescriptio.
