Police: Roy woman stole $26K in painkillers with fake prescriptions

Jan. 24--NORTH OGDEN -- A former medical assistant was arrested on allegations of writing hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers worth thousands of dollars over the course of several years.

Lori Hoskins, 37, of Roy was booked into the Weber County Jail on Thursday, Jan. 21, on suspicion of insurance fraud, forgery of a prescription for a controlled substance and identity fraud.

A probable cause statement filed in court said an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Utah Department of Insurance's Fraud Division uncovered the alleged fraud over the course of several months.

The investigation started after a doctor attempted to fill a prescription for a patient, Hoskins' mother-in-law, but discovered there was already a prescription for a large amount of Oxycodone in her name, according to the probable cause affidavit. The patient said she never received a prescription for painkillers. The doctor reported this to the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force, which then reported it to the DEA.

Hoskins, who worked as a medical assistant at Intermountain Healthcare's North Ogden clinic, allegedly used a doctor's computer password to access a program to fill out numerous prescriptions for painkillers, mostly Oxycodone, in the names of her mother-in-law, her husband and herself, according to the affidavit. It said Hoskins told her mother-in-law in a text message, "This is something I could go to jail for."

Investigators said when she was questioned, Hoskins admitted to filling out about 260 fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers since 2007, according to the affidavit. Hoskins allegedly paid for the pills using Select Health insurance, which paid nearly $26,000 for about 56,000 pills, the affidavit said.

Hoskins was fired from the clinic when the fraud was discovered, the affidavit said.

The woman is scheduled to appear in 2nd District Court on Feb. 3.

Calls to the Department of Insurance were not immediately returned Sunday.

Contact reporter Andreas Rivera at 801-625-4227 or arivera@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @SE_Andreas.

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