POLICE PUT PHARMACISTS IN CRIMINAL DILEMMA

SARASOTA - State and federal laws prohibit pharmacists from filling
prescriptions they know to be fraudulent, yet local police conducting
sting operations are instructing pharmacists to break those laws.

Instead of arresting a suspect for passing a bogus prescription,
detectives are telling pharmacists to fill the prescription while
officers wait outside, ready to arrest the person carrying the pills.

Police get better evidence for court, and the suspect faces more time
in prison on a more serious drug trafficking charge.

But caught in the middle are pharmacists who must balance their
professional obligations as a health care provider with helping law
enforcement in an action that is a crime and could put their
professional licenses at risk.

As law enforcement agencies focus more resources on battling the
illegal prescription drug trade, leaders in the pharmacy community
are divided on what to do when asked to break dispensing laws.

The stings put pharmacists in a potentially dangerous situation that
turns them from health care provider to an arm of law enforcement,
the Florida Pharmacy Association says. And it may open them up to
liability in a civil lawsuit if something went wrong.

"We are not trained to be in law enforcement," said Michael Jackson,
vice president of the Florida's largest trade group for pharmacists.
"I would have fear over what would happen to my employees if for some
reason the law enforcement officer were unable to restrain this person."

Nationally, retail giant Wal-Mart has an internal policy prohibiting
its pharmacists from participating in such stings, which "may
threaten the safety of customers and associates," court records state.

Recent incidents have shown the volatility of crimes related to
prescription pill abuse. Last month, a Sarasota pharmacist shot a man
who pulled a gun and demanded oxycodone from the clerk, the second
time in two years he fired at someone trying to steal drugs from Bee
Ridge Pharmacy.

But others, like University of Florida College of Pharmacy Professor
David Brushwood, with more than 30 years of teaching future
pharmacists, said the tactic is not new and the profession has a
responsibility to cooperate with law enforcement.

"If law enforcement believes they can more effectively do their job
by filling, then despite the fact it's technically illegal, the
pharmacist's responsibility is to comply with the request of law
enforcement," Brushwood said.

Florida law does not directly provide legal cover for a pharmacist
who fills a prescription they know to be fraudulent, experts say,
although it is highly unlikely a pharmacist would face license
sanctions or criminal charges for participating in a sting.

Yet Tallahassee lawyer Marty Dix, whose practice focuses on pharmacy
law, says participating in a sting is simply not legal, and he
suggests pharmacists nicely tell police: "I can't do that, this is
not a valid prescription."

Sarasota Police use the stings as a small part of their broader
policing to stop prescription pill trafficking.

Most trafficking arrests are from undercover drug buys usually
associated with cocaine or other street drugs, court records show.

Sarasota Police say the stings have won approval from a judge and the
State Attorney's Office. Prescription drug overdoses are the county's
top cause of accidental death.

"It's a really serious problem and people are dying," Sarasota Police
Capt. Paul Sutton said.

Presenting a fraudulent prescription is a felony that carries up to
five years in prison.

Catching a suspect with the drugs allows prosecutors to take
advantage of a 2008 law that instituted mandatory minimum prison
sentences of either three or 15 years for trafficking charges,
depending on the amount.

Sarasota Police have conducted at least three such stings since the
law took effect, all with non-chain, community pharmacies, court records show.

Alexandra Coe, 22, faces a minimum of 15 years in prison if convicted
on charges stemming from a 2009 sting at Hedges Pharmacy where she
bought $155 worth of pills.

She dropped off two fake prescriptions for painkillers, and the
pharmacy manager called Sarasota Police, court records state. The
pharmacist filled them, and a clerk took her payment. As Coe walked
out the front door, police swooped in and arrested her.

Possessing the pills not only ups the charges, but demonstrates the
intent of the suspect and provides better evidence in court, Capt. Sutton said.

Coe's defense attorney, however, is attacking the tactic as a
violation of Coe's constitutional rights.

Sarasota attorney Liane McCurry said in a court motion that Coe would
not face the steeper trafficking charge without police telling the
pharmacist to break the law and give her the pills.

That argument was rejected in the case of Barbara Dirito, after
prosecutors defended the legality of the sting. But McCurry feels her
argument is stronger now. She said she could not discuss the case
because it is pending and will be heard next month.

The manager at Hedges Pharmacy, on Lime Avenue, said he follows the
rules of the state Board of Pharmacy. The Florida Board of Medicine
says pharmacists would not have a problem with them if they go along
with the stings.

"We are required to cooperate with law enforcement," Chris Mottram said.

But he said he would double-check with state regulators about whether
he should participate in the future.