What Are the Penalties for a Forged Prescription? Is it a Felony?

You may have tossed out a referral as a kid. Or changed your demerit to ensure you didn’t get grounded.

But if you try to fool professionals in the medical field as an adult, it will come with a hefty penalty.

A forged prescription means an alteration or fabricated prescription that occurred and wasn’t completely and solely produced by a medical doctor. Even if the drug is a minor substance or is a copy of a prescription that a medical professional has already written for a patient, it is still illegal.

Don’t Even Think About It

Simply put, there is never a situation where forging a prescription is acceptable. You could be facing a tough time financially. Or you could be in dire need of the drug that the forged prescription was for.

But even if the penalties in the U.S. (see below) were not severe, a forged prescription or the forging of any signature from someone else is a huge mark on the character of an individual.

In the medical field, doctors and pharmacists are always searching for instances of forgery. They know how to spot a forged prescription. In most cases, you will be caught. But what will be the punishment?

Penalties for a Forged Prescription

On a federal level in the United States, forged prescriptions are a felony nationwide. As far as individual states go, the penalty varies. In every state, a fake prescription is either a felony or a high misdemeanor.

In some states, the jail time associated with forging a prescription could be up to a year in prison.

Remember, any alteration to the prescription will apply to this crime. Changing any detail (like the date, the dosage, or the number of refills) of a prescription will register it as forged.

Forged Prescriptions Are a Felony

Now that you know how risky it is to produce or try to use a fake prescription, it is obvious you should avoid it. Luckily, there are alternative measures you can take to ensure you always turn in a prescription that is valid and legitimate.

If you can’t make it into the doctor’s office, quality prescription drugs can be found online for great prices.

That is why for all cheap prescriptions, it is safe and legal to buy quality prescription drugs for any type of medicine.

There’s an Easier Way

The fact of the matter is that forging prescriptions puts everyone at risk. The structure and system behind prescriptions in the doctor-patient relationship can be life-saving for those patients who have a disease where they are at risk.

When someone tries to produce a forged prescription to wrongfully obtain a drug, it puts the whole system at risk for the millions of people who use prescriptions responsibly. Besides, when ordering prescriptions safely and securely online is as easy as it is, there’s no excuse to choose an illegal route.

If you want to learn more about prescriptions or other interesting topics, check out our blog.