Sarasota veterinarian charged with prescription fraud

A veterinarian is facing charges of prescription fraud after Sarasota Police say she wrote scripts for painkillers for a business partner’s dog but picked them up herself.

Melissa Page, 46, was arrested May 1 and charged with two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and possession of cocaine, police records show.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Page, who owns Coastal Veterinary Internal Medicine on Fruitville Road, was confronted by her business partner when he discovered a pill vial at the business for pain medication prescribed for his dog that Page had been treating for a chronic condition.

Knowing he had already picked up a similar prescription, the business partner suspected Page was submitting additional prescriptions without his knowledge. 

An investigation revealed Page had written additional prescriptions for the dog for hydromorphone, a narcotic painkiller. 

Page also allegedly changed the phone number at the nearby pharmacy to notify her when the fraudulent prescriptions were ready, the affidavit said.

Page is currently in custody in the Sarasota County Jail and is due to be arraigned June 14, jail records show.