NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MAY 19, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPRINGFIELD PHARMACIST INDICTED FOR DILUTING DRUGS,

ILLEGALLY POSSESSING HYDROCODONE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Springfield, Mo., pharmacist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for diluting prescription drugs and for illegally possessing a controlled substance.

Jeffrey M. Gregory, 54, of Springfield, was charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Friday, May 15, 2009. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Gregory’s arrest and initial court appearance.

Gregory, who was a pharmacist at Family Pharmacy in Nixa, Mo., was charged with one count of tampering with consumer products and one count of adulterating drugs, both charges related to the prescription drug Tussionex. He was also charged with one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud and one count of possessing a controlled substance, both charges related to the prescription drug Hydrocodone.

The federal indictment indictment alleges that on April 3, 2008, Gregory tampered with a prescription for Tussionex. According to the indictment, Gregory delivered the drug knowing that it did not contain the amount of the prescription ordered by the treating physician. Gregory is also charged with causing a quantity of the prescription drug Tussionex to be adulterated while it was being held for sale. Gregory, with the intent to defraud and mislead, allegedly caused the drug to be adulterated by mixing a substance with the Tussionex so as to reduce its quality and strength, and represented that the strength of the drug, and its purity and quality, were greater than they actually were.

The indictment also alleges that, from Dec. 2, 2007, to April 8, 2008, Gregory obtained Hydrocodone by misrepresentation or fraud. Gregory, in his role as a pharmacist, allegedly created forged prescriptions that he filled and kept for himself.

Whitworth cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary K. Milligan. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations.

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