PHARMACIST DENIES DRUG CHARGES

A Billings pharmacist and former member of the Montana Board of Pharmacy
pleaded not guilty Monday in District Court to 15 felony counts of
fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs.

John Herbert Poush, 40, also pleaded not guilty at arraignment to three
counts of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs. Poush was allowed
to remain free until trial on a $30,000 bond.

Prosecutors said in court records that Poush was working last year as a
pharmacist at Target when he wrote prescriptions for Hydrocan cough syrup
for fictitious people and took the drugs home.

Investigators searched Poush's house on Palisades Park Drive and found
"hundreds of controlled pills," including hydrocodone, alprazolam and
diazepam, court papers said.

In 1997, Poush was appointed to serve a five-year term on the Montana State
Board of Pharmacy.