The crime can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor.
The abuse of prescription medication has been a hot topic in the news lately, particularly when it comes to the abuse of narcotics and opioid medication. While many pharmaceutical companies and doctors are under fire for overprescribing medication and otherwise getting patients hooked on these highly addictive drugs, there is another potential way that patients are getting their hands on this medication — by forging or altering prescriptions.
Under California law, it is a crime to forge or alter a prescription, or to posses drugs that you obtained with a forged prescription. Depending on the facts of the case, it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony charge, resulting in up to one year in county jail for a misdemeanor or up to three years in county jail for a felony, in addition to fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. However, if you forge or alter a prescription for a narcotic drug, then you will face more serious consequences. This includes six months to one year in county jail for a misdemeanor offense, and up to 3 years in California state prison for a felony offense.
California makes it a crime to sign someone’s name to a prescription for drugs, or to falsely make, alter, forge, utter, publish, pass as genuine or attempt to pass as genuine a prescription for drugs. It is also a crime to possess any drugs obtained by a forged prescription. Under this law, it is illegal to call a pharmacy pretending to be a doctor in order to order prescription drugs, to change a written prescription, or to steal a prescription pad and write out a prescription for yourself or someone else.
Forging or altering a prescription can happen in any number of ways. A person who is addicted to prescription painkillers may decide to change the number of refills listed on her prescription, for example, or change the number of pills in the order. Doing so would be an example of altering the prescription, and would constitute a violation of the law. When you then try to use that prescription — and pass it off as genuine through your words or actions — you are “uttering” the altered prescription, which is a violation of the law.
If you are charged with forging or altering a prescription, your Los Angeles criminal defense attorney may be able to present a factual defense to the charges, such as that you were not the person who forged or altered the prescription. If you are convicted, your attorney may be able to argue that you should be sentenced to probation and drug counseling rather than jail time.
Forging or altering a prescription — particularly one for a narcotic — can be a serious charge, especially if you have a prior criminal history. A skilled Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can vigorously defend you against these charges and can get you the best possible results. Contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation and learn how we can help you.
