HARRISBURG — A former physican’s assistant and a registered nurse pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and obtaining controlled substances by deception after prosecutors say they conspired to obtain oxycodone and morphine with fraudulent prescriptions.
According to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed, Matthew Dows and Robert Garofalo, both of Mechanicsburg, conspired between February 2017 and March of this year to obtain more than 7,470 medically unnecessary oxycodone pills and 1,620 medically unnecessary morphine pills.
Both men pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Schwab in U.S. District Court.
Dows, 39, wrote a total of 67 prescriptions for Garofalo, 31, and two other unidentified individuals without the other individuals’ knowledge or consent. Both men then filled the prescriptions at local pharmacies for their own use.
Dows was terminated from his position at Pinnacle Health’s Fisher Road office in Mechanicsburg on Jan. 5. After his termination, he wrote 11 more prescriptions for oxycodone and morphine on counterfeit Pinnacle prescription forms.
Under Pennsylvania law, a Physician Assistant may not legally write a prescription if he is not under the supervision of a physician.
The matter was investigated by the Harrisburg Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel is prosecuting the case. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
