Physician Caught Taping Oxycodone Prescriptions to Office Door

An elderly physician and his secretary are facing charges of illegal administration and distribution of drugs after they were caught handing out prescriptions “like candy,” The Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Steven Friedman, MD, of Newton Square, Pennsylvania, had been doling out oxycodone prescriptions without conducting physical exams, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.

Dr. Friedman’s secretary, Margaret McGowan, 78, was approached in June 2014 by an undercover officer. McGowan asked for the officer’s name and whether Dr. Friedman had prescribed drugs for him before. The officer gave McGowan a false name and said that Dr. Friedman had given him a prescription for oxycodone in the past.

Without talking to Dr. Friedman, McGowan proceeded to write the undercover officer a prescription of 60 oxycodone pills at 15 mg each, according to The Philadelphia Daily News. The officer was able to obtain 4 more prescriptions from the doctor’s office between June and October 2014. When the officer told McGowan that he had gone through his prescription too fast 1 month, she refilled it and told him to stay away from Rite Aid and CVS because “the government is really cracking down,” according to The Philadelphia Daily News’ report.

Dr. Friedman spoke to the undercover office on the phone a couple of times, but they never met in person, according to court documents.

One time, the officer arrived at Dr. Friedman’s office to find it closed. When he called, Dr. Friedman offered to leave an oxycodone prescription for the officer taped to the front door, which he did.

Later, officers found 4 prescriptions taped to the office door for 3 different patients, according to The Philadelphia Daily News’ report.