Walgreen's pharmacist sniffs out fake cough medicine prescription

In this 2006 file photo, cough syrup is on display on a store shelf at an Edmond, Okla., pharmacy.
In this 2006 file photo, cough syrup is on display on a store shelf at an Edmond, Okla., pharmacy.
photo One of two suspects in an apparent scheme to obtain prescription drugs illegally.
photo The second of two suspects who police say tried to obtain prescription drugs illegally.

An alert Walgreen's pharmacist sniffed out a fake prescription in Dalton, disrupting an apparent scheme to obtain cough medicine containing codeine by following up on details that didn't add up.

Police are on the lookout for a pair of men who passed prescriptions for codeine cough syrup at the Walgreen's pharmacy on West Walnut Avenue in Dalton in November, which listed the name of a doctor in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The first man was able to get his prescription. But when a second man attempted to pass off a similar prescription listing the same doctor, a pharmacy employee got suspicious.

She asked for identification and said she would have to verify the prescription. The suspect left and the pharmacy employee called the number on the prescription. She spoke with people claiming to be employees of the doctor's office, but they could not provide identification information that would allow the pharmacy to release the medication, and she decided not to fill the prescription, according to a police news release.

The original male suspect, who had initially succeeded in getting his prescription filled, returned to the store two days later with a copy of the second prescription, but it was denied and the pharmacy turned it over to the police.

The suspects are both white males. Anyone with information on their identify may reach the police at 706-278-9085, extension 157.

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