Naples physicians, pharmacist accused of violating state pill prescribing requirements
Liz FreemanTwo Naples physicians, a pharmacist and a pharmacy have been accused of prescribing controlled substances in violation of the law, according to complaints filed by state regulators.
Separate administrative complaints have been filed against Dr. Jane M. Harrington and her husband, Dr. Francis E. Harrington, both 69, and internists who operate a medical practice together in Naples, according to the state Department of Health, which licenses medical professionals.
The health department also filed complaints against pharmacist Michael Anthony Aquino, and Naples Pharmacy, where Aquino is listed as a manager.
Naples Pharmacy is in the Professional Arts Building at 848 First Ave. N., and so is the Harringtons’ medical practice.
None of the three could be reached for comment. They all have the right to petition for administrative hearings to dispute the allegations.
The complaints filed Aug. 26 against the two physicians are not the first state actions against them. Both were fined in 2014 stemming from allegations that they prescribed medications through a website without examining patients and without keeping medical records, according to state records.
In 2014, Francis Harrington paid a fine of $10,000 and $2,600 for the state’s investigation costs. Jane Harrington paid a $28,000 fine and $3,600 for the state’s expenses, records show.
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The recent complaints are the result of an investigation that began in April 2016. A Target/CVS pharmacist tipped off the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that Francis Harrington was using his wife’s information to prescribe controlled substances, according to the document.
Harrington had given up his own DEA registration in 2015 as part of disciplinary action stemming from the earlier allegations of improper prescriptions, according to records.
As part of the 2016 investigation, the DEA made three successful undercover purchases over two years with Francis Harrington. He printed unsigned prescriptions bearing his wife’s information without a physical examination of the patients, and instructed them to only fill the prescriptions at Naples Pharmacy, according to the complaint.
The pharmacy accepted and dispensed the prescriptions without a signature from Jane Harrington, who would sign them after the fact, the complaint said.
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On May 15, 2018, the DEA executed a search warrant at Naples Pharmacy and at the Harringtons’ practice. The search found multiple unsigned prescriptions, some of which appeared to have a forged signature of Jane Harrington, according to the complaint.
The state action against Jane Harrington is similar to that against her husband, with the exception that regulators allege she acknowledged to DEA investigators in the presence of her attorney that she knew her husband was using her information to prescribe controlled substances, according to the complaint.
The complaints against the Harringtons do not identify which controlled substances they are accused of improperly prescribing.
In June 2019, the health department filed action against Aquino and Naples Pharmacy alleging that from March 2016 through March 2018 Aquino filled 16 prescriptions that were not dated.
The complaint states the prescriptions were for amphetamines, hydrocodone, oxycodone, clonazepam and other controlled substances. Patients are identified by initials.
The complaint against the pharmacy says “one or more pharmacists” employed at Naples Pharmacy dispensed the 16 prescriptions that regulators say were not dated and signed by the physician.