Nurse practitioner accused of illegally prescribing Oxycodone

BOSTON — A Dorchester nurse practitioner was arraigned on charges related to illegally prescribing painkillers to her family members and friends across the state.

A grand jury indicted Roberta Regan, 51, for 10 counts of unlawful prescription of oxycodone, one count unlawful prescription of lorazepam and one count of unlawful prescription of clonazepam in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Plymouth Counties.

"At a time when we’re working to combat the opioid epidemic, actions like these threaten that progress and help fuel addiction,” said Attorney General Maura Healey.

The Drug Enforcement Agency began investigating Regan after she was terminated from her job at MetroWest Medical Center after misusing hospital prescription pads. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program revealed Regan had written 119 prescriptions over a one-year period for a total of 10,007 tablets and of those only 12 were prescribed to legitimate patients at the medical center, said the Attorney General.

The investigation revealed Regan was allegedly writing prescriptions for family members and friends. She would often receive a portion of the pills back in exchange for writing the prescription said the AG’s office. While some of the people who received the illegal prescriptions used the pills to treat various levels of pain, they were never patients of Regan’s and many allegedly developed some level of addiction.

Regan pleaded not guilty to the charges in Suffolk Superior Court Clerk. She’s set to be arraigned in the other counties where she’s facing charges.

Cox Media Group