Among the Drug Diversion Unit files reviewed by the reporter was a 2012 case in which a pharmacist at a supermarket pharmacy wrote and filled 11 fraudulent prescriptions across Vermont and New York. Police said most were for hydrocodone-acetaminophen, a narcotic painkiller.
The article does not describe how the fraudulent prescriptions were detected. The police report quoted the pharmacist as admitting he wrote the prescriptions, saying he had been going through very hard times and had recently thrown every pill he had down the toilet.
No charge disposition is given. Investigators told the reporter that diversion cases typically resolve through probation conditions or plea agreements, often with treatment as a component, and that people charged frequently seek treatment before their court dates.
The case appeared alongside others involving a physician, a pharmacy technician and a clinic secretary, illustrating that diversion in Vermont reached across the professional spectrum.