Waynesboro woman faces dozens of counts for alleged painkiller prescription forgeries

WAYNESBORO - A Waynesboro woman is facing three dozen counts on allegations she forged multiple prescriptions for several narcotic painkillers and filled them under a relative's name. 

Brittany Ray Briar, 29, is charged with 12 counts each of felony obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, misdemeanor forgery and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents. She was arraigned and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. 

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Officers with Washington Township Police were dispatched at the beginning of October to a Rite Aid pharmacy on East Main Street where a pharmacist said Briar had filled 12 prescriptions for another woman between April 19 and July 6, including 11 for Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) and one for Norco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen).

The pharmacist told authorities they became suspicious after they contacted the prescribing doctor, WellSpan Health's  Dr. Johar A. Shah, who said he did not prescribe these medications for the woman. They also said Briar could have copied the format for the doctor's prescription off a work computer while she was employed at WellSpan. Other staff later noted to police Briar would come in and pay cash for the medication despite the woman having insurance, and would wait for them to be filled. 

Brett Marcy, senior director of public relations and communications at WellSpan, confirmed Briar was employed with the organization from June 2015 to August 2017 as a medical assistant in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine department, but she is no longer an employee. 

When asked about its prescription protocols, Marcy said the health care company has been "aggressively working" to strengthen its safe-prescribing protocols, which includes shifting from paper prescriptions to electronic ones. He noted last month 82 percent of controlled substance prescriptions were prescribed using its secure e-prescribing system, which is expected jump to 100 percent next year. 

Shah practices psychiatry at WellSpan's locations in York and Gettysburg, its website states.

After being approached by officers at her home, Briar later came to the police station to speak with them. Court documents show she denied knowing the prescriptions were forged and claimed she was purchasing the medications for her relative because the relative was driving every day from Hanover to babysit for her for free. 

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Police said the woman was very angry when she was first informed what was happening, but she later agreed to speak with authorities at the station. 

She told police her family doctor confirmed the prescriptions were written by Shah, although he didn't normally prescribe those types of drugs. She also said she was never a patient of Shah's, and that her doctor asked her about the amount of narcotics being prescribed to her, documents state. The woman gave police a copy of her Pennsylvania Department of Health Prescription Drug Monitoring Program record, which listed 15 prescriptions. 

Court documents show pharmacy staff were familiar with Briar and her relative and had asked about the woman's condition. She told them the woman's "back was so bad that she couldn't get off of the couch" and mentioned she was going to see a new doctor in West Virginia.

Police said the woman claimed she recently found a bottle of 180 hydrocodone acetaminophen tablets prescribed to Briar that had been filled at a CVS. She also told them Briar had a history of stealing pain medication from family members and friends. 

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When asked about Briar's reaction after being contacted by authorities, the woman said she told her she did not know who wrote the prescriptions and thought they were valid. The woman later asked about how she thought this if they were written for someone else, and mentioned how she wouldn't use a pharmacy in Waynesboro. 

She then urged Briar to come forward if she was covering for someone else, but Briar refused and said she feared for her children's safety, according to documents. Briar then admitted to filling the prescriptions in the woman's name.

Officers were provided with copies of 11 forged prescriptions for Percocet and one copy of a forged prescription for Norco. 

Court records indicate a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday in Franklin County Central Court.

*Correction: A previous version of this story stated Briar worked for WellSpan Health while she allegedly forged the prescriptions. However, this story has been updated to show these accusations took place after her employment was completed with the health care company.