A Rowan grand jury has indicted a Mooresville doctor and a woman with involvement in a prescription fraud scheme that involved former Bostian Elementary School teachers and other educators. Indictments show the doctor, Cheryl Tan Navarro-McGuinness is accused of providing prescriptions to Dr. Orrin Walker of China Grove over a nearly three-year period.
Indictments indicate another woman, Wendy Michelle Hamrick, filled a prescription on Oct. 10, 2012, at a Kannapolis pharmacy. Dr. Walker is accused of writing that prescription to Hamrick. The indictments were filed Monday.
Walker, along with his wife, Abby, a former Bostian Elementary School teacher, and six others were charged in July with filling 200 prescriptions for the pain reliever hydrocodone from October 2012 to March 2014.
According to the indictment, from May 4, 2011 to February 11, Navarro-McGuinness is accused of dispensing hydrocodone to Dr. Orrin Walker without a prescription.
Hamrick was indicted for obtaining controlled substances by fraud. The document said she used the prescription at Walgreen’s Pharmacy at South Cannon Boulevard, Kannapolis.
Hamrick permitted Dr. Orrin Walker to issue the prescription to her when she knew it was not for a prescribed “legitimate medical purpose,” the indictment said.
Both Navarro-Guinness and Hamrick are expected to turn themselves in to authorities sometime this week.
Abby Walker was a second-grade teacher during the times the crimes occurred, but was suspended when school district officials learned of the investigation, and she subsequently resigned.
Meredith Raynes resigned in August from Bostian Elementary School where she was a teacher. Others charged, including Alisha Christian and Tammy Eudy — both teachers assistants, have also resigned.
Teresa Beaver Seagroves, an administrative assistant at McKnight Child Development in Kannapolis, was also charged along with Summer Knight Thomason, 31, an educator at Southside Christian Academy in Salisbury, and Crystal Elizabeth Maness, 31, of Salisbury.
Each of the six women is charged with conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud and multiple counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud.
Authorities said Abby Walker would coordinate with the other suspects, who allowed their names to be used for the pick-up, payment and delivery of the pills to the Walkers. Dr. Walker is accused of writing prescriptions for the hydrocodone in the names of the suspects, none of whom were his patients. Dr. Walker surrendered his medical license to the N.C. Medical Board.
Officials said 200 prescriptions were filled, which equated to 25,000 dosages of hydrocodone.
The charges are the result of a four-month investigation by the China Grove and Landis police departments and the SBI’s Drug Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit.
The North Carolina Medical Board says Navarro-McGuinness practices urgent care medicine in Mooresville.
Navarro-McGuinness’ license is up for renewal in November, according the state Medical Board. Her license status, as of late Tuesday, remains active, however she is currently under review by the board.
Documents that were made public Aug. 4, but signed by the Mooresville doctor on July 23, say she prescribed a physician, who has a history of back pain, hydrocodone and oxycodone from January 2010 to February 2014. Navarro-McGuinness did not have a patient relationship with this other physician, the documents said.
The papers do not name the other physician, but says Navarro-McGuinness called in 55 prescriptions for hydrocodone and two prescriptions for oxycodone from January 2010 to February 2014. The physician, who is listed as Patient A, received 6,870 units of hydrocodone and 180 units of oxycodone. She did not provide documentation, a physical exam, diagnosis or a therapeutic plan.
The documents reveal an outcome of the medical board’s findings, saying the doctor was “reprimanded” for her conduct and fined $1,000. The board still reserves the right to annul, suspend, revoke or limit her license, if she fails to comply.
The document said Navarro-McGuinness waived any right to a hearing, a judicial review or appeal in the case.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.