The Hudson man went to a Hernando drugstore three times using three different names to fill an addictive prescription.
By DUANE BOURNE
Published August 11, 2004
WEEKI WACHEE - A 33-year-old Hudson man was arrested Sunday after he was accused of using a fictitious name to obtain a highly addictive prescription drug, authorities said.
Derek P. Gendron of 8214 Reynolds Drive is accused of filling three prescriptions for 170 tablets of vicuprofen, a generic replacement for hydrocodone.
Vicuprofen contains a mix of hydrocodone and is prescribed for short-term treatment of pain.
According to the arrest affidavit, Gendron, who works in sales for a beverage company, used three fictitious names to fill the prescriptions over a three-month period.
A pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs at 9204 Cortez Blvd. in Weeki Wachee first filled the prescription for vicuprofen on May 19, but later realized something was amiss when Gendron returned several weeks later to fill another prescription for the same medication.
The pharmacist, who was not identified, contacted a sheriff's investigator on Sunday when Gendron returned to the drugstore a third time. Gendron had also tried to use another name, the report said.
Upon his arrest at the Eckerd store on Sunday afternoon, Gendron told authorities he completed the prescription forms to obtain the narcotics for himself.
Gendron was charged with three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. He was released from Hernando County Jail at 1 a.m. Monday after posting $15,000 bail, jail records indicate.
