Docs: Former Muncie nurse fraudulently obtained pain pills under the names of 2 nursing home residents

MUNCIE, Ind. — A former nurse at Paradigm Health has been charged after officials claim she fraudulently obtained more than 40 prescriptions of pain medications from a pharmacy, ordering extra under the names of two nursing home residents.

According to court documents, filed in Delaware County in late June, 45-year-old Meredith Briles has been charged with:

• One count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit, a Level 6 felony
• One count of failure to make, keep or furnish a record, a Level 6 felony
• One count of possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 6 felony

Officials with Paradigm Health received a complaint regarding Briles, a former employee, in April 2022 after the nurse who took over some of Briles’ former patients noticed some discrepancies on medication orders. Briles was terminated in March 2022 due to an unrelated incident.

By looking into the electronic software that Paradigm Health uses for medical records and prescriptions, the documents state that they found frequent medication orders where Briles would request them to be filled at a pharmacy in Muncie that was not the preferred pharmacy for the facilities where Briles worked.

After an investigation, Briles reportedly retrieved prescriptions for hydrocodone-acetaminophen for two patients, one located at Lynd Place and one located at Silver Birch Living, at the Muncie pharmacy. A pharmacist confirmed with investigators that all the prescriptions in question for the two residents had been picked up.

Under the name of the resident of Lynd Place, Briles reportedly picked up 23 prescriptions of 90 ct. hydrocodone-acetaminophen between April 28, 2021 and March 21, 2022. None of these prescriptions were reportedly delivered to Lynd Place.

Under the name of the resident of Silver Birch Living, Briles reportedly picked up 25 prescriptions of the same medicine between April 9, 2021 and March 15, 2022. None of these prescriptions were reportedly delivered to Silver Birch Living.

The documents said that hydrocodone-acetaminophen is a schedule II narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain.

An initial hearing in this case is scheduled for Sept. 5 in Delaware County, according to the court documents.

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