Alert pharmacy employee tips cops to forged prescriptions

Monroe n A 48-year-old North Main Street resident used a series of aliases and forged prescriptions to obtained a powerful, habit forming painkiller from pharmacies in Orange and Westchester counties. Monroe Police said Bruce J. Wilson may have been using forged prescriptions for as long as 18 months before an alert pharmacy employee at Eckerd’s Drug Store in Monroe contacted the doctor on Wilson’s prescription earlier this month. When the doctor told the pharmacy that Wilson was not her patient, the store’s staff contacted police. Wilson was arrested Oct. 6 and charged with five counts of second-degree forgery, five counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, both felonies, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. Wilson told police that he has a friend who was a nurse at a Westchester hospital who would steal blank prescriptions for him. He told police he would fill them out, some in his own name and others under a number of aliases, to obtain Lortab, which is the brand name for the combination of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and hydrocodone. Lortab is prescribed for moderate to moderately severe pain. Hydrocodone is habit forming. Police said Wilson used six pharmacies in Orange County, including three in Monroe, as well as several drug stores in Westchester. The investigation indicated Wilson used the Lortab for his own use rather than to sell it. A search of his vehicle and his home revealed several blank prescriptions from a number of doctors and several empty prescription containers, some in Wilson’s name and others in one of the aliases names. A quantity of Hydrocodone also was recovered from the residence. The nurse, who was not named, is under investigation by authorities in Westchester. He was remanded to OCJ on $2,500 cash bail or $10,000 bond.