Prescription Fraud Attorney in Jacksonville

Former Prosecutor. Unblemished Trial Record. Fighting for Jacksonville Clients.

Prescription fraud cases rarely hinge on a single witnessed act. Prosecutors build them from pharmacy records, prescription monitoring data, and inferences about intent. At Monroe Law, P.A., founding attorney D. Scott Monroe draws on his experience as a former prosecutor to understand exactly how that evidence is assembled and where it can be challenged. We represent clients in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau counties, and each case receives our full, personal attention from investigation through resolution.

What Florida Law Treats as Prescription Fraud

Prescription fraud covers more ground than most people expect. Florida Statute 893.13(7)(a) targets three distinct behaviors: doctor shopping, possession of unsigned prescription forms, and obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge. Florida Statute 831.31 separately criminalizes passing or uttering a false or forged prescription with intent to obtain a drug.

Doctor shopping means withholding from a prescribing practitioner the fact that you received the same or a therapeutically similar controlled substance from another practitioner within the prior 30 days. Possessing a prescription blank that hasn’t been completed and signed by the named practitioner is its own violation unless you are that practitioner, an authorized agent, or an approved supplier. Health care practitioners face parallel liability: providing a controlled substance by fraud, deception, or concealment of a material fact is prohibited when the prescribed amount isn’t medically necessary.

Penalties for Prescription Fraud in Florida

The severity of the charge depends on the conduct and the defendant’s history. Under Florida Statute 893.13(7)(a), a first violation of doctor shopping, prescription blank possession, or obtaining a controlled substance by fraud is a first-degree misdemeanor, escalating to a third-degree felony on a second or subsequent offense. At the felony level, a conviction carries up to five years in prison and significant fines. An attempt alone is enough for a charge, even if no medication was actually received.

Under Florida Statute 831.31, passing a false or forged prescription is a second-degree misdemeanor for a first offense and a first-degree misdemeanor for a second or subsequent conviction. For health care professionals, the consequences don’t stop at criminal court. A conviction can trigger disciplinary proceedings before the relevant licensing board, putting a medical license at risk.