October 1, 2009
For immediate release
Contacts:    Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer, Volusia County Sheriff’s  
                  Office (386-736-5989)
                  David Melenkevitz, Special Agent – Public Information Officer, DEA
                  Miami Field Division (954-660-4602)
                  Michael Morrison, Public Information Officer, Florida Department of Law
                  Enforcement (850-410-7001)                

AGENTS RAID DOCTOR’S OFFICE IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG FRAUD CASE 

Law enforcement agents seized patient records Thursday morning as part of a sweeping investigation into a Central Florida doctor suspected of prescription fraud. Dr. Ralph Chambers, Jr., came under suspicion after several of his patients died from drug overdoses. He operates a drug treatment program at New Hope Family Care in Sanford and has been under investigation since 2005. 

In addition to being suspected of prescribing pain killers for illegitimate purposes, the 59-year-old Dr. Chambers also is under investigation for possible Medicaid fraud. Investigating agencies include the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The Sanford Police Department also assisted with the execution of the search warrants. 

During the course of the investigation -- dubbed Operation Script Writer -- agents made numerous undercover visits to Dr. Chambers’ office, talked to local pharmacists and interviewed several of Dr. Chambers’ current and former patients. Dr. Chambers’ name also has surfaced during the investigation of several pill distribution cases. Agents believe much of the allegedly fraudulent prescriptions were for the potent pain reliever, Oxycodone. Oxycodone is a heavily abused narcotic that has been determined to be a contributing factor in numerous fatal drug overdoses around the state. 

Based on the information gathered in the investigation, agents obtained court orders to search Dr. Chambers’ office and two pharmacies in Sanford -- Discount Rx and Tru-Valu Drugs. The search warrants were executed Thursday morning and patient records were being seized. No criminal charges have been filed in the case, and the investigation is ongoing. VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime. Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney’s General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor. 

Anyone with information related to the investigation into Dr. Chambers is asked to call (386) 274-3470.