Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Sun News (SC)
Copyright: 2002 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://web.thesunnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Tonya Root

OXYCONTIN RING LIKELY TO EXTEND INTO HORRY

More than two dozen arrests in Columbus County, N.C., for Medicaid fraud 
Wednesday, which stemmed from OxyContin dealing, are expected to impact 
Horry County, an official said.

"We feel sure that some went over into Horry County," Columbus County 
Sheriff Jimmy Ferguson said. "We tracked it all over the state, which 
probably means it went over into South Carolina."

In the roundup, the suspects "lived between Tabor City and the Brunswick 
County line on the state line," Ferguson said.

On Wednesday, in what officials have said may be the first-of-its-kind 
raid, 53 warrants for Medicaid fraud were issued for 32 people in Columbus 
County, Ferguson said. The fraud came when the Medicaid recipients sold 
their monthly Medicaid cards to drug dealers, who purchased OxyContin, a 
painkiller, and other prescription narcotics.

"It started with our Department of Social Services noticing that a lot of 
our Medicaid recipients were buying OxyContin," Ferguson said. "They'd get 
a card, pay $3 [copay] to get their drugs and we're paying the rest. A 
bottle [of OxyContin] can cost up to $500 or $600."

Investigators uncovered about $1 million in fraud including $28,926 in 
OxyContin bought at local pharmacies there, he said.

People who sold their Medicaid cards, who were the majority of the people 
arrested Wednesday, earned between $20 and $200 for their cards. If 
convicted on the charge of medical assistance recipient fraud, those 
arrested face up to two years in prison.

Horry County police officials could not be reached Thursday for comment on 
any illegal OxyContin trade.

Officials said Columbus County, a mostly rural county about 160 miles east 
of Charlotte, has been a target for a Medicaid ring partly because drug 
dealers know poor people willing to sell their cards.

Another factor, they say, is its proximity to South Carolina. Towns on 
state borders often have worse drug problems because dealers find it easier 
to evade police in two states.

"I'm sure now that we're aware of it we're going to start looking at it 
real close because it's taxpayer's money and involves a lot of money," 
Ferguson said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart