An Ontario County, New York waitress receiving workers’ compensation benefits from a 2002 workplace accident in which she sustained neck and back injuries has been charged with felony fraudulent practices involving the sale of the drugs prescribed to ease her pain.Under a relatively new provision of the workers’ comp law that treats the sale of narcotic drugs as employment, the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department arrested Leeann McArthur, 48, of Honeoye, New York for selling OxyContin and hydrocodone prescribed to treat neck and back pain.
The alleged drug sales were initially investigated by the sheriff department’s narcotics officers who filed drug charges against MacArthur. A joint probe with NYSIF’s Division of Confidential Investigations followed culminating in MacArthur’s arrest on Aug. 12 on the fraudulent practices charge.
NYSIF CEO/Executive Director David Wehner explained that this was an unusual but important application of the workers’ compensation fraud law. “This is a case of a claimant not only defrauding NYSIF and the workers’ compensation system, but also endangering other people through the distribution of powerful controlled substances. It also underscores the importance of inter-agency cooperation in solving cases, saving substantial money and eliminating a source of dangerous drugs on the street.”
The potential future savings on this claim totals $124,527.
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