Sarasota County Sheriff's Office - Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Press Releases

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IN THE NEWS

Date: 9/14/2012

Released by : Wendy Rose

Press Release#: 12-152

Sarasota Woman Charged with Doctor Shopping

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested Amanda Merritt, DOB 4/28/80, 4122 Bradenton Road, Sarasota, for doctor shopping for pain medications.

Investigators with the Pharmaceutical Diversion Unit received information that Merritt was possibly doctor shopping for pain medication, and learned that she had been prescribed controlled substances from numerous physicians and dentists and obtained some 3,900 pills over a 10-month period last year.

Merritt was taken into custody yesterday and charged with 20 counts of Withholding Information from a Practitioner in Order to Obtain a Controlled Substance.

Members of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office PDIU are working to educate the medical community about the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). There has been a substantial increase in patients seeking controlled substances from non-traditional providers other than pain management clinics and there is a distinct benefit for all medical professionals to register to use the PDMP.

Amanda Merritt

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IN THE NEWS

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