An administrative assistant at a suburban Chicago medical practice has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for fraudulently writing opioid prescriptions to an acquaintance, according to federal records.
Amanda Biesiada, 39, of Alsip, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to one count of knowingly and intentionally dispensing controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
Between 2017 and 2019, Biesiada fraudulently wrote 85 prescriptions to the acquaintance for hydrocodone, oxycodone, and other controlled substances, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The prescriptions were written on behalf of six Hinsdale Orthopaedics health care providers, but the providers did not direct or approve the prescriptions, authorities said.
Biesiada attempted to conceal the fraudulent prescriptions by marking them as having been ‘filed in error’ in the Hinsdale Orthopaedics prescription system, officials added.
The sentence was announced by Robert J. Bell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
‘The opioid epidemic has devastated the lives of countless individuals through addiction and overdose,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney G. David Rojas argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
Biesiada was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison by U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. on Thursday. The exact date of the sentencing was not specified.
The case highlights the growing threat of prescription fraud and the need for vigilance in preventing it, officials said.
Hinsdale Orthopaedics is a medical practice in Westmont, Ill.
The Northern District of Illinois includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, and Will.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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