A Starkville nurse has been arrested for allegedly writing false prescriptions.
Amanda Jones, 35, is accused of writing prescriptions for Adderall in the name of a family member and filling the prescriptions at local pharmacies. Jones was one of two northeast Mississippi nurses arrested in a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics pharmaceutical diversion investigation, according to an MBN press release. MBN agents working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Tupelo, Ripley and West Point arrested Jones on Wednesday.
Jones was charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, according to Clay County Jail records.
She surrendered her DEA license in early May, according to the press release. Jones worked at Mississippi Bone and Joint Clinic, but the office manager at the Starkville clinic told The Dispatch this morning no one by that name works there now.
Jones was released from the Clay County Jail Wednesday on a $5,000 bond.
Also as a result of the investigation — but from instances unrelated to Jones’ arrest — two physicians surrendered their DEA licenses for prescribing controlled pharmaceutical drugs. Dr. William Bell, 49, of Tupelo, surrendered his license after agents discovered he was writing prescriptions for Adderall and Clonazepam for family and acquaintances outside the scope of an emergency room physician. Dr. Dwalia South, 62, of Ripley, was found to have been colluding with nurse practitioner Brenda Shelton, 54, by signing her name to Shelton’s prescriptions, even though Shelton was prescribing controlled substances without a valid DEA license. Shelton has also been arrested and Hollis Discount Pharmacy in Ripley also faces civil action for its involvement in Shelton and South’s conspiracy.
In a separate case last week, a Columbus woman was indicted in a federal court in Alabama for being part of a scheme to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and one of its prescription drug administrators. Robin Lowry, 49, who worked for Alabama-based pharmaceutical company Global Compounding Pharmacy and a local medical clinic, was accused of writing fraudulent prescriptions for medication provided by the pharmaceutical company where she worked.
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