LANCASTER, Pa.–A former Lancaster nurse was arrested Thursday for allegedly forging her own prescriptions through the oncology center where she worked.
Heather Lynn Brown, 42, is charged with two counts of acquisition or obtaining of possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge and insurance fraud. Brown, of Stevens, was arraigned Thursday on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Brown was a registered nurse at the Heart of Lancaster’s Infusion and Oncology Care Center in Warwick Township when she forged prescriptions for herself between Aug. 2015 and Jan. 2016, prosecutors said.
She listed the “prescriber” as a doctor from the Oncology Center. The doctor told investigators he never wrote prescriptions for Brown nor had prior knowledge of her doing so.
The prescriptions were for a variety of medications, including sleep aids and an appetite suppressant.
Upon learning of the allegations, Heart of Lancaster placed Brown on administrative suspension. She resigned two days later. She had been a nurse since 1994 and worked in Heart of Lancaster’s oncology unit for about a year.
In a police interview, she admitted to the conduct, telling Northern Lancaster County Regional police Detective Theresa Stauffer, “That was it. Was it wrong? Yeah.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 20.
