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I have just been charged with a felony 3 for obtaining information from a controlled substance database. I am 1 of 3 co-defendants. This is my first offense. I have been told through consults I will probably get 30 days in the county jail and another said it's possible but I can probably get house arrest. I also asked about a plea in abeyance. I'm a single mom with 2 kids, I have a job, a home, a vehicle. What do you think the chances of me doing jail time on a first offense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hapeehour
I would assume you have an Attorney who is familiar with the facts and the laws of your State.
It's hard to say - you were charged with a felony so I would expect some jail time followed by some type of probation.
You were charged with serous stuff but I'm sure you know that so I don't think you will be treated lightly. Did the Feds get involved or is this a State arrest?
Hello happee:
Well, before you talk about sentences, you should address whether you committed a crime or not.
As far as I know, accessing databases is NOT a crime. You'll have to fill me in a little better.
excon
Hi. I did committ a crime, not by accessing the database but releasing the info. I am in NO WAY trying to get out of this, just trying to prepare. I know what I did was wrong and I did the crime I will do the time. I was thinking with my heart instead of my head, I am aware the judge will not care for my reasons. I have 3 friends, a husband and wife and the husbands sister. The wife has a pain pill addiction, the husband and sister were trying to help as other options have not worked, 3 kids are involved also so you can see my concern. I have been friends with them for over 15 years all irrelevant I know. Anyway long story short. I accessed the report, gave the info to the sister who was helping the brother help the wife. Not sure what happened once the report left my hands but the husband sister and myself are facing F3 charges for obtaining the info off the database and the wife is being charged with 6 F3 for falseifying Rx's.
The husband lied to the detective twice about where they came from, told police he got them from me which is untrue he got them from his sister. I was questioned I was very honest and cooperated, told them I was trying to help a friend, gave the report to the sister and didn't hear anymore until he came to my office. The sister resisted talking to the detective until more charges were threatened to her then she talked but from what I have heard she has lied. The husband and sister are both trying to get out of it on the events that took place. I will not. I will take my punishment like a woman! My boss is aware of all of the above and has been since the day after I accessed the reports. They were former patients of our clinic so he was aware of problems, also they were my friends he was aware of me helping, wrong YES but he understood and stands behind me. I have an attorney, have not spoke to what I thought were friends as they lied and are trying to blame it all on me. I go to court the middle of August to enter my plea. We are just waiting for the discovery to decide what to ask the judge for. Plea and abeyance is not something my attorney thinks will happen. We are in Ut and that don't happen often he said. I will take whatever punishment the judge hands me, just would like to try to keep it out of the county facility as my children need me at home, all I should have thought about before hand I know. I'm 37 I'm not fresh off the street and a mile long of trouble behind me. A simple honest mistake, illegal but like I said thinking with my heart not my head.
Hello again, H:
I think it's wonderful that you take responsibility for your wrongdoings... There's no need to fall on your sword, though. I know you want to take your punishment like a woman... So, I'm NOT going to appeal to your better judgment right now, because it's clouded... I'm going to appeal to your maternal instincts, which look like they're in tact.
You said "my children need me at home". You're right. So try to stay out of the joint for THEM, if not for yourself.
I read what you did... I still don't see the crime, if you'll excuse me. I DO know a little about crime. Who is the victim? Who did you cheat? Who lost anything because of what you did? What was your INTENT? To steal something??
Please explain to me who you wronged and how?
excon
[QUOTE=Hapeehour]Hi. I did committ a crime, not by accessing the database but releasing the info.[QUOTE]
Was this a scheme to forge prescriptions? I still don't understand the purpose of accessing the info and passing it along.
The information that I obtained was about a friend that A. has an addiction problem to pain medication B. She was calling in Rx's for her use under other family members name. I obtained the info on a request from my other friend who is her sister in law she then in turn gave the info to her brother who is married to the friend with the addicition problem. 3 of us are being charged with the F3 obtaining info from a controlled substance database, and the addicted friend has 6 F3 for falseifying/uttering prescriptions and is being charged seperatly from us 3. Long story short the husband was trying to save his wife, marriage and 3 kids from the drugs, asked his sister for help, she asked me and I gave her the info, she gave it to him, not sure what he did exactly but here we are. It boils down to a patient privacy issue basically.
Hi Excon,
The victim would be my friend who has an addiction problem and by me giving those reports to her sister in law it violates her privacy as a patient, HIPPA, yes it brought her law breaking by forging rx's to the surface and hopefully some help for the addiction. I don't really see that anyone lost anything other than her kids, to the drugs and now to jail probably but it will help her in the long run but legally I committed a crime by releasing the information other than for it's main purpose, which also should be kept in the clinic. It states on the document that it's a 3rd degree felony and up to 5000 in fines for improper use, which like I said originally, I was thinking with my heart and not my head. I realize that the LAW states, but I do feel that it may have saved a few lives in the long, doubt the judge will see it that way and I don't expect him to, well ultimatley I would like him too, lol, but I know the reality of it. The problem I'm forseeing is the brother and sister, who I thought were my friends, you they are lying out their butts to get out of trouble. That bothers me for the fact that it looks to me like THEY are the ones that had an ulterior motive or something behind it since they are all of relation and I haven't heard from them since the exchange of the documents. UGH friends like that who needs enemies...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hapeehour
I come from a whole different place here - you could very well have caused a Pharmacist to lose his license, however temporarily, if that Pharmacist filled one of these false prescriptions, trusting or believing someone.
A Pharmacy can have its license suspended by the State for antics such as these.
If the person who needed painkillers had attempted to fill a prescription, depending on the level of the drug, it may not have been able to be filled because it was within the 30 day time frame of the forged prescription.
I do not see this as a victimless crime and I do not see you as blameless. I do not see this boiling down to patient privacy issues - I see this as a betrayal of confidence - your employer's confidence in you.
Sorry - there must have been some other way to help this woman with her addiction.
I find the story, quite frankly, preposterous and a lot of "who shot John" and justifying what is obviously a crime.
Me printing off the information that I printed off has nothing to do with the pharmacy that filled the medication. My friend with the addiction worked for a dentist and was calling these medications in on her own, under his name. That is totally separate from the report I accessed. The report I accessed had patient info and scheduled narcotic info on it.
As far as victimless or crimeless if you go back to my first question on this site I fully take responsibility for what I did, that was print the report of a friend and gave it to another friend who is also her sister in law, who in turn gave it to her brother which is the addicts wife! It is a crime and I am the only one of 3 of people who is willing to accept responsibility for this crime. I'm fully aware of the laws of Hippa as well as Rx's being filled within the 30 days, again I'm not saying what I did was right because by no means was it right in any way, I was thinking with my heart not my head. I wish another form of help would have helped my friend but unfortunately rehab, the hospital, a car wreck and being pulled over with her kids in the car while on medication was not enough to do the trick apparently so her husband took it into his hands well and her sister in law as well as far as involving the law and it backfired on them and we are all facing charges. Like I also said previously I know the judge will not care of the reasons behind the crime, as reasons don't matter much when a law is broke. Like I originally stated I am looking to see if anyone was famililar with a situation of this type, and sentencing possibilities as I'm preparing for what I will need to do to take care of my sentence. If it's jail time then so be it I did the crime I'll do the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hapeehour
Your actions could very well have caused a Pharmacist or Pharmacy to have a suspended license while this mess was being investigated. You enabled the prescriptions to be called in - I never said you called them in yourself.
Again - I fail to see how providing an addict with information to illegally obtain prescription drugs helps "cure" an addiction.
Also - in your first post you characterize this as a "simple mistake." I don't see it that way.
I don't know what State you are in so I picked Virginia and a Class 3 Felony, no prior record: "For Class 3 felonies, imprisonment for five to 20 years and a fine of up to $100,000." If you post your State someone will look up the law for you.
I'm sure it's a typo if you work in the medical field but it's HIPAA.
Judy,Quote:
Originally Posted by JudyKayTee
I'm not entirely sure, but I think that the OP was providing information on the names that the prescriptions had been filled under to the addict's husband, not helping the addict get prescriptions. I can see a husband asking "where are all these drugs coming from anyway? Isn't there a limit to how many she can be prescribed?" Especially if she was smart enough to transfer them to old pill bottles under her name when she got them. I'm not entirely sure how having that information would help. However, if the addict was doing what was stated, and using other family member's information to get the drugs, I'd sure want to know if I were that family member, since that will go on my records, and could potentially mess up future medical treatment that I need.
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Originally Posted by froggy7
And I see it as one in the same - but for OP providing the information the "scheme" (whatever it was) would not have been possible. I see providing the information as actually enabling the addict and husband to get the prescription drugs illegally.
And our differing opinions are what makes the World go around. Maybe some day we'll be on the same jury - would make things interesting!
I do know that if this had ended up in a suspension of a Pharmacist or Pharmacy the OP would be right on the lawsuit firing line - misuse of names and prescription info by medical health care providers in an effort to obtain unprescribed medication is not uncommon, unfortunately.
I don't see this as a "simple mistake." It's a deliberate act.
Well, I think it gets down to when the acts happened. If the addict has gotten the drugs already, and the OP is just telling the husband's sister what names were used (I assume to somehow shut off that route of access, although what they would do with this information is fuzzy to me), then the OP is not aiding the addict in any way. She is violating other people's privacy, I assume, since I would think that if Person A got drugs in Person B's name, you'd have to go into Person B's records to find that out. But telling Person C that A used B's name doesn't, in itself, help A get the drugs. A's already done it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by froggy7
The whole thing is rather fuzzy to me - :D
I am not a lawyer but I don't see how the Pharmacist or Pharmacy would be suspended by my accessing a report on a person. They have access to the same report as they are the providers that make that report possible to review a patients narcotic filling cycle. The Pharmacy/Pharmacist trust that the individual calling in the medication is authorized by the provider that's writing the meds. In this case the Addict was not given any of the reports, therefore did not enable her to call in the meds, that was already being done by the addict after not being able to get more from her current provider. I guess I should add that the Addict and I have not been in contact for more than 6 months. She got upset with me as she was seeing the provider in the clinic I work for and they would not increase her medications so she went to another provider. She got upset with me because I wouldnt' persuade the provider to give her more. I had previously sat her down, explained my concern as a friend about the use of the meds she got mad and hasn't spoken to me since. I was unaware she was filling illegal Rx's until April when approached by her sister in law.
When I was approached in April by the sister in law of the Addict, also a long time friend of mine telling me her addiction was out of control, divorce was in the process, 3 kids involved (the Addict is married to friend B's brother, she inquired if I could help, she asked several times before anything was done, again I haven't spoke to the Addict or her husband. Long story short, the information was given to Friend B (sister in law to the addict) she in turn gave them to her brother (addicts husband) and my opinion the husband and addict are trying to sabatoge one another in the divorce, fight over the kids, etc. so that is how these charges came about.
My opinion the husband turned the info into law enforcement thinking he would get his wife in trouble and/or help for the addiction, I don't know as I only received details from friend B (sister in law to addict). So yes while I accessed information which violates the addicts privacy, that is my crime, I'm aware of that, wrong, yes I'm aware of that also. My provider was told by me the next day that I accessed the info and what was going on, yes I was advised of my wrong doings by the provider. Anyway I don't think the husband or sister in law thought they would ever be in trouble, probably figured the addict would be in trouble go to jail, he wins so to speak. None the less its all wrong but now the addict has faced charges, which she admitted to, I have faced charges which I also admitted to, however the husband and sister in law have now ended up in a fight as they are blaming one another, lying, etc. I believe they had ulterior motives. I'm done with all of it, I have explained the situation to my attorney, I will go to court, admit my wrong, explain why I did wrong and take my sentence and be done. I thought these 3 were friends of mine, they have not spoken to me since this came about, like I initiated the problem, technically they involved me it was my choice to help or not, you I'm definitely wishing I would have thought twice for numerous reasons but I made a mistake and I can't change it, I can only make sure I don't have this problem again.
Froggy 7 understood what I was explaining about the situation as that is how it is, the husband was not involved in the obtaining of the meds he was trying to stop it and advise those family members what was going on with the addict.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hapeehour
I know you don't and I don't know how else to explain it to you. I know you feel you have no responsibility for any forged prescriptions. If you didn't provide any information which the other 2 used I have no idea why you were charged with felony 3. Maybe your Attorney can find out.
In my area you cannot "call in" prescriptions for narcotics - the Pharmacist must have the hard copy.
I trust you will make these same arguments in Court and come back and let us know how things work out.
after rereading all the postings between us all I'm not sure how it turned around and it's a confusing story anyway. The Addict, her medications and her charges have nothing to do with us 3 and our charges. Our charges are about her, for her, against her, however the wording would be. I know our charges have lead to her being charged but that's it.
As far as the info I provided. I didn't provide names of people or medications. I confirmed the information that my friend (sister in law) said she is filling in this name and this name which are none of the names are involved in the charges.
Person A= the addict Person B=sister in law to addict and sister to addicts husband. Person C= husband and brother Person D= Me.
The addict was filling the meds in her parents names, not the husbands, sister in laws or mine. They already had the information of who A filled in and what A filled. I committed the crime of the report to confirm their information.
the felony 3 for this charge is stated on the document which obviously I had not read before now or this wouldn't be happening or at least I wouldn't have been involved but it states that misuse of the database is a felony 3 charge and up to 5,000 in fines. Utah a felony 3 is 0-5years.
I know this... it's a mess for all involved. I plan to go to court in August, answer whatever questions or provide statements or how ever it will work, my attorney will advise me of what will go on I'm sure, as I have not been in court other than a divorce so I will go and admit my wrong, and take my punishment, in jail or out. I have not spoken to any of the other parties since the detectives talked with all of us the first part of June, so I'm going to go about my life, a valuable lesson learned for myself and I do hope that my friend A even though I have not talked to her in 6 months gets the help she needs so she is able to be a mom to her 3 kids.
In Utah you can call in certain scheduled narcotics but most need the hard copy at the pharmacy. My court date isn't till the middle of August so I will keep you updated. Thanks for the tips
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