Prescription medicine addiction has been a prominent subject in the headlines recently, especially when it comes to opioids and opioid pill abuse. While many pharmaceutical corporations and doctors have been chastised for overprescribing medications and for inducing individuals to get addicted to these extremely addictive pharmaceuticals, there is another way for patients to obtain these drugs: by forging or modifying prescriptions.
As the opioid crisis continues, prosecutors are taking these and other drug related charges more seriously. If you have been charged with a drug crime, keep reading to learn how the right criminal defense attorney can help you. Then contact Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088 for a free legal consultation.
Prescription fraud is a wobbler offense
Forging or altering a prescription, as well as possessing medications obtained with a falsified prescription, are both illegal in California. These are wobbler charges, which mean they can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony, with fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 and up to one year in county prison for a misdemeanor and up to three years in county jail for a felony, depending on the facts of the case. You will face more harsh sanctions if you falsify or change a prescription for a narcotic medicine.
To sign someone’s name to a prescription for drugs, or to fraudulently manufacture, change, forge, utter, publish, pass as genuine, or attempt to pass as genuine a prescription for drugs is illegal in California. Possessing any medications obtained through a false prescription is likewise illegal. It is illegal to phone a pharmacy and claim to be a doctor in order to purchase prescription medications, modify a written prescription, or steal a prescription pad and create a prescription for yourself or someone else under this legislation.
There are many ways a prescription can be forged
A prescription can be forged or altered in a variety of ways. A person addicted to prescription opioids may opt to vary the number of refills on her prescription or the number of pills in her order, for example. It would be a violation of the law to do so, since it would be an example of changing the prescription. When you try to use that prescription and pass it off as legitimate by your words or actions, you’re breaking the law by uttering the changed prescription.
What to do if you are facing prescription fraud charges
Your criminal defense attorney may be able to submit a factual defense to the allegations, such as showing that you were not the one who faked or changed the prescription. If you are convicted, your lawyer may be able to argue that instead of jail time, you should be sentenced to probation and drug therapy.
Forging or modifying a prescription, especially one for a narcotic, is a serious offense, particularly if you have a criminal record. A criminal defense attorney can fiercely defend you against these allegations and obtain the best possible outcome for you. To book a free first consultation and understand how we can help you, call Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088.
