Statement from NYS Health Commissioner Howard Zucker

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 8, 2015) - Today the NYS Attorney General announced the arrest of a former employee of Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, on charges that she stole and forged prescriptions to obtain hydrocodone-APAP, a Schedule II controlled substance.

The Department of Health's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) was the first agency notified by Ellis Hospital of the alleged theft and forgery, and worked closely with the Attorney General's office and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the accusations.

The arrest also highlights the success of New York's I-STOP-Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP), which helped to uncover the alleged forged prescriptions. I-STOP requires prescribers to utilize the PMP Registry when writing prescriptions for Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances.

I'd like to thank DOH's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement for their efforts on this and other cases.