Former pharmacist sentenced for prescription fraud
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., and DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan announced today that Patrick R. McQuade, 29, of North Tonawanda, N.Y., who was convicted of obtaining controlled substances through fraud, was sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay $7,793.78 in restitution to the Rite Aid Corporation. As a condition of his probation, McQuade is prohibited from employment as a pharmacist.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth T. Molisani, who handled the case, stated that between January 2015 until his firing in December 2017, the defendant was employed by the Rite Aid Corporation as a New York State licensed pharmacist. McQuade was fired after an internal investigation discovered that he created fictitious patient accounts which enabled him to create fraudulent prescriptions using Rite Aid’s inventory system. After creating a fraudulent prescription, the defendant then dispensed and diverted the controlled substances for personal use.
McQuade created 20 fictitious patient profiles and 47 fraudulent prescriptions to dispense a total of 1,874 dosage units of Alprazolam, phentermine, Cialis and Synjardy of varying strengths. Internal investigators verified that none of the doctors listed on the prescriptions had prescribed the medications to the fictitious patients.
At the time of his arrest, the defendant was working as a clinical staff pharmacist at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy and the DEA Buffalo Resident Office, New York Division.
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