Louisiana Doctor Arrested for Illegally Obtaining Prescription Medication
Posted on November 17, 2009A doctor in Houma, Louisiana, has been accused of illegally obtaining medicine by writing his own prescriptions to feed his addiction to painkillers. David Caletri, 49, an oncologist, treats cancer patients at his practice in Houma. The Associated Press reports that he said he turned himself in to police Friday after being contacted by officers.
According to state police, he used another doctor’s pad and federal registration number to write himself prescriptions for more than a year. Caletri obtained the medication this way 21 times between March 27, 2008, and July 29, police said.
The DEA Control Group, which monitors agencies that handle prescription drugs, filed a complaint against Caletri on Oct. 30 with the state police, said Troop C spokesman Bryan Zeringue.
Officers charged him with obtaining drugs with a false prescription. He was released Friday from the Terrebonne Parish jail on $5,000 bond.
Caletri said he sought treatment for the addiction, participating in a three-month inpatient program. He said he developed the addiction because of stress associated with the loss of his job more than two years ago and the search for work that followed.
Despite the resulting charge, Caletri told The Houma Courier he did the right thing by seeking treatment.
"I felt good because I knew in the long run everything would be better," he said. "It would just have gotten worse."
For 16 years, Caletri worked for Cancer Care Specialists, a practice run by a group of doctors whose office is at Terrebonne General Medical Center, he said.
He was fired in January 2007 when fellow doctors decided to "go in a different direction."
Media reports of the charge and addiction could be damaging, he said, but there is an upside to telling his story.
"Maybe this will help somebody realize what they’re doing and seek help as well," he said. "That’s the only thing you can hope for."
