On September 21, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia announced that Laurie Napper was sentenced for selling personal information about patients and even selling blank prescription forms.  Napper was sentenced to six months in a halfway house and required to perform 100 hours of community service for the federal charge. 

Napper was sentenced by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  She was charged with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).  She was placed on 3 years probation, and she will spend the first 6 months in the halfway house.  The next 6 months will be spent in home confinement.  Napper also received a fine of $2,100.

According to court documents, Napper worked in the general surgery department of Howard University Hospital as a medical technician.  With such a role, she had access to private health information of the hospital patients. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that Napper obtained the records of hospital patients on at least three different occasions.  She sold names, addresses, birth dates, and Medicare numbers to an outside party in exchange for monetary awards.  She received between $500 and $800 for every transaction. 

The same person also received blank prescription pads from Napper.  The FBI reports that the person used the blank pads for prescriptions of oxycodone.  The person provided Napper’s telephone number on the prescription pad so pharmacies could call and verify that the prescriptions were legitimate. 

James W. McJunkin, the Assistant Director in Charge at the FBI’s D.C. Field Office, stated, “Cases like this demonstrate that drug distribution is not just on street corners but can take place with an illegally obtained prescription pad and patient information.  Today’s sentence sends a message that selling patient information and forged prescriptions for personal benefit is dangerous and illegal, and we will bring those who commit prescription drug fraud to justice.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation