The 10-month investigation, dubbed "Operation Bad Apple," delved into fraudulent prescriptions that were filled at Apple Pharmacy in Englewood, putting thousands of oxycodone pills on the street in 2011. Twenty-three suspects were arrested this week, with an outstanding warrant for one additional suspect and charges against five who are in the county jail.
The suspects paid more than $40,000 in cash for 67 fraudulent prescriptions that each garnered 160-240 oxycodone pills at a time, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said. The charges include obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and trafficking in oxycodone. Based on the quantity of pills, all but one of the suspects could face a 15- or 25-year minimum mandatory sentence if convicted. Most have prior criminal records.
Two other suspects died of overdoses before they could be arrested.
The mother of one suspect, Ashley Kipp, who was arrested with her father, James, died of a drug overdose several years ago, authorities said.
In the most recent analysis of area drug-related deaths, the medical examiner reports that in 2011 more than 85 percent of the deaths associated with drugs in Sarasota, Manatee and Desoto counties involved prescription drugs.
Prescription drugs were listed as the cause for 223 of those deaths, a decrease of more than 15 percent from the previous year.
"We are still way above the state averages for overdose death rate, but we are starting to see meaningful change in how people are looking at prescription drug abuse," said P.J. Brooks, vice president of outpatient and youth services at First Step of Sarasota, a substance addiction recovery center.
Brooks said prescription drug abuse used to be overlooked because it was assumed that it was OK if the drugs came from a doctor, but once addicted, a user might do anything to get the pills.
"They may have a legitimate prescription from Doctor A, but they aren't telling you about the prescriptions they get from Doctor B, C and D," Brooks said.
Prescription drug abuse is not a problem that can be eliminated by "arresting your way out," Brooks said, but for many addicts, the only avenue to help and treatment runs through the legal system.
The 29 suspects fraudulently obtained the pills from June to August 2011, authorities say, using prescriptions that allegedly came from the same doctor at a Fort Myers pain clinic.
The clinic, Luxor Industries Physicians Group, was closed later in 2012 for being unlicensed. The doctor told investigators that the suspects were not his patients, and that he had never signed any of the prescriptions.
Babies born addicted
Investigators with the Sheriff's Pharmaceutical Diversion Unit became aware of the fraudulent prescriptions in March 2012.
As the investigation grew, they found new suspects, some through confidential tips or complaints from nearby business owners.
The privacy of medical records can slow or complicate such investigations.
"Oxycodone is no more than synthetic heroin," Sheriff Tom Knight said Friday at a press conference announcing the investigation's results.
He said pharmacies have a responsibility to take action if customers appear suspicious. "The reality is that people only see what they want to see, but it boils down to cash," he said.
After Sarasota resident Linda Ballou lost her 49-year-old daughter, Debbie, to oxycodone, prescribed to treat unrelenting pain, the mother founded the Prescription Addiction Really Kills Foundation.
"I lost my daughter to oxycodone over a year ago," Ballou said. "I had never even heard of it until she died."
Ballou's daughter was in a car crash, breaking nearly every bone in her body and necessitating 16 surgeries over a 12-year stretch. She was given strong prescription drugs, which caused her death two months later, Ballou said.
The prescription drug problem touches all ages. After learning that babies were being affected, Attorney General Pam Bondi began pushing to create the Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns.
"The breadth of the prescription drug abuse problem has reached the most innocent of our society," Bondi said Friday. "Babies are being born addicted to the prescription drugs their mothers are abusing."
The state task force started last year. On Monday, the group will finalize recommendations it will send to the Florida Legislature, laying the groundwork for addressing the problem of drug-addicted newborns — who can suffer from multiple symptoms of withdrawal and serious disorders.
"We didn't have any kind of prescription accountability in our state until recently," said Judy Sterling, a drug counselor, therapist and owner of Sarasota Intervention. Regulations enacted in the last several years put more responsibility on doctors and pharmacies to use high-security prescription pads, limit access to the drugs and create criteria for reporting abuse.
Sterling said the strict laws have helped, but learned behaviors, like popping pills for recreation or to cope with pain, need to change.
Paul Sloan, who runs pain clinics in Venice and Fort Myers, said the increased regulation has eliminated a number of shady drug providers, but the problem continues.
"You have a personal responsibility to never look the other way," Sloan said. "A patient should never be looked at like a source of revenue."
While Sloan said pain clinics like his have a responsibility to prevent addiction and watch for signs of abuse, they also need to make sure patients with legitimate needs can get medication.
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