Alberta pathologist shocked after name falsified on fake oxycodone prescriptions in Toronto

A Calgary doctor recently discovered his name was being used on fake prescriptions when they were purchased at Ontario pharmacies.

In his work as a pathologist at the Peter Lougheed Center, Dr. James Cotton does not prescribe medications or see patients. He spends most of his time behind a microscope analyzing biopsies and tissue samples.

So it came as a surprise when his pager was recently bombarded with calls from Toronto-area pharmacies requesting suspicious prescriptions, in his name, for large quantities of oxycodone.

“It was just one after the other and it was different pharmacies from different areas in the greater Toronto area.”

Besides the fake prescriptions — for 180 oxycodone pills and another drug used to treat certain cancers — there was a cover letter claiming a patient had stage 4 cancer and had moved to Ontario.

“It’s detailed. So it seems like they understand a little bit about what might be the reason someone might need that level of prescriptions,” Cotton said.

The College of Pharmacists of Ontario said it had received similar reports in the past about falsified prescriptions using the names of Alberta-based doctors and alerted its members in March. The college confirmed it was contacted by Cotton.

Pharmacists in Alberta are also on the lookout for fake prescriptions. As CBC News reported in May, counterfeit prescriptions are on the rise in the province, with nearly a third of them coming from prescribers in other parts of the country.

Cotton said he knew of five Ontario pharmacies that had detected counterfeits and that each cover letter contained small changes, including a different patient name.

“I don’t even know how much work it is anymore if they can just have an AI algorithm generate them a cover letter.… It seems like they probably generated the letter once, went in and inserted different names over and over and over again,” Coton said.

He recently returned to Calgary from Ontario and wonders if his name was used, as he does not yet have a phone number listed on the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta website, making more difficult to contact him to verify prescriptions.

A number of pharmacists found it, including Milson Chan.

The manager of Queen East Medical Pharmacy in Toronto said he started seeing fake prescriptions several weeks ago in the names of doctors in Alberta, including a number in Cotton’s name.

“The level of detail is definitely increasing. Now they’re faxing them, I guess that also reduces risk on their end,” Chan said.

He pointed out that the fraudulent prescriptions he has dealt with in the past were physically brought to the store.

“I’m actually surprised at how far they would be willing to go to get these medications…I think pharmacies in Ontario are going to start seeing a lot more of them.”

According to Chan, red flags in this case include the large volume of pills prescribed and the fact that the doctor and patient are from another province, making follow-up more difficult.

“Because of the current opioid crisis, I believe pharmacists have a responsibility to protect narcotics,” he said.

Incidents reported to police

“This is criminal activity… It is illegal to forge a doctor’s signature on a prescription,” said Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addiction specialist who teaches at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.

“So it’s also very concerning from a legal point of view.”

The Calgary Police Service confirmed the situation was reported earlier this month and Ontario police were notified.

“Anyone with information about fraudulent prescriptions or who believes they have been the victim of a similar incident is asked to contact police,” a CPS spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

One of the pharmacies involved is in Markham and York Regional Police have confirmed they are investigating.

“Unfortunately, fraud of this nature is not new and is often committed across multiple jurisdictions in an attempt to prevent pharmacists from verifying the validity of prescriptions,” a York Regional Police spokesperson said, adding that no medicine had been distributed.

Ghosh said it’s possible a group of people are trying to get their hands on oxycodone to sell on the illicit market.

Or, it could be a person with substance use disorder who is trying to avoid dangerous and unpredictable illicit drugs in favor of a safer supply, according to Ghosh.

“It could show the level of despair that these people feel about their substance use issues or potentially their pain issues,” he said.

“They will go to great lengths to obtain these prescription drugs…and so it is extremely important to be vigilant on all sides.”

Meanwhile, Cotton hopes his story will raise awareness among pharmacists and doctors.

“(For) my colleagues here in Alberta and Ontario, I guess it’s something to keep an eye on,” he said.

“It seems like this is happening more and more frequently.”