With the recent untimely death of actor Cory Haim this week, the public is learning about an industry-wide problem that continues to plague the health insurance industry, fake prescriptions.
Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor, best for his 1980s Hollywood career as a teen idol. Mr. Haim starred or co-starred in a number of movies like Lucas, Murphy’s Romance, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, and Dream a Little Dream. Corey Haim appeard many times alongside his friend Corey Feldman. The two later starred in the hit A&E reality television show called The Two Coreys.
Corey Haim died an untimely death on March 10, 2010.
According to the Examiner, “A state investigation turned up an unauthorized prescription in Corey Haim’s name. According to People.com, the illegal prescription was noticed when investigators ordered drug pads from a San Diego vendor. The prescriptions were filled out by using the stolen identity of doctors. Authorities have described this prescription drug ring as “massive”.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown said that the illegal prescription made out to Corey Haim was for the pain killer OxyContin. The prescription was located through the California computer database that tracks all prescriptions that are filled in the state.”
The Associated Press is also reporting that “California Attorney General Jerry Brown said records of the prescription in the name of the former teen heartthrob were found during an investigation of the ring that illegally obtained prescription pads and used the stolen identities of doctors to fill them out.”
The public is learning of the problem of fake drug prescriptions because of this celebrity’s untimely death and the fact that one of the prescriptions that was part of illegally obtained prescription pads and the stolen identities of physicians. There continues to be calls for changes in the way prescriptions are written that will make it more difficult for fake prescriptions to be obtained by the public.
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For more reporting on this topic, see our Prescription Drugs and Pharmacy news hub.