Pharmacist to appeal license suspension

YOUNGSTOWN -- Pharmacist Richard Petrilla will pursue an appeal of his license suspension and fines.
In the meantime, Dick's McGuffey Pharmacy at 790 N. Garland Ave. will remain open, said his lawyer, Gregg A. Rossi.
Last week, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy suspended the druggist's license for two years. He has pleaded guilty to five counts of illegal processing of drug documents and five counts of dangerous drug distribution and will be sentenced this month.
Rossi said patient care was not compromised; patients received their medicines and paid for them. Reimbursement was then sought from insurance providers.
"Apparently, technical violations of the law occurred due to billing practices," Rossi said.
The pharmacy board said Petrella, between Nov. 29, 1997 and March 23, 1999, submitted false prescription claims and was reimbursed by United Healthcare.
For prosecution purposes, investigators reviewed the files of five randomly selected patients out of 180.
George Pavlich, an OSBP agent, Youngstown Police Department vice squad and Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force investigated the case.
Petrella sold drugs without prescriptions from doctors and created false billing records, an OSBP report shows.