Caitlin Carol Adams, a nurse from Arkansas, is facing felony charges for allegedly using a deceased patient’s name to fraudulently acquire oxycodone pills at local pharmacies. The 31-year-old registered nurse has been charged with three counts of fraud or deceit to procure narcotic drugs via forged prescriptions.
According to authorities, Adams used a fake prescription to purchase 120 oxycodone pills at a pharmacy in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on January 2, claiming the pills were for a patient at a nursing home. However, when pharmacy employees investigated the prescription, they discovered that Adams had been fired from the nursing home on January 1, the day before the purchase.
Undeterred, Adams returned to the same pharmacy on January 6 with another prescription for 180 oxycodone pills, this time using the name of a deceased man who had been a patient at the same nursing home. The man had died on December 30, just days before the prescription was written. The pharmacy refused to fill the prescription after uncovering the fraud.
Adams then went to a different pharmacy and successfully obtained 180 oxycodone pills under the same dead patient’s name. She was arrested on January 24 and is currently out on a $25,000 bond, with an arraignment scheduled for March 20.
The Arkansas State Board of Nursing is investigating Adams’ professional license as part of the ongoing probe into her actions.
