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Records seizure linked to clinic raid
Police say many patients from the walk-in clinic got their illegal prescriptions filled at the Pinellas Park pharmacy where records were taken.
By MARLON A. WALKER
Published May 25, 2006
State and local authorities seized prescription records from a Pinellas Park pharmacy today. Officials said the G & H Pharmacy, 6236 66th St. N, had been filling fraudulent prescriptions obtained at a clinic that was shut down earlier this week. The Florida Department of Health and narcotics agents from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office took part in the seizure at the pharmacy, run by Katherine Mkparu and her brother, Onyekachukwu Ezike-Mkparu. Many of the patients from the Doctors Urgent Care Walk-In Clinic, 4900 33rd Ave. N in St. Petersburg, were bound by contract to get their prescriptions filled at the pharmacy, Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner said. The clinic was raided Monday on suspicion of improprieties, netting six arrests, including Drs. Alex Petro and Mary Jane Eicher. "You would have to pass many pharmacies to get all the way out here," Bordner said Thursday afternoon. The arrests were part of a five-month investigation called Operation Pain Relief that began after complaints from neighbors and local businesses, Bordner said. He doesn't expect today's investigation to end with any arrests.
[Last modified May 28, 2006, 10:26:32]
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