Monroeville doctor accused of writing illegal painkiller prescriptions

A Monroeville doctor was charged last week in federal court with nearly 100 counts of writing illegal oxycodone prescriptions, as well as Medicare fraud.

An indictment returned Thursday by the federal grand jury said Joseph Dicroce, 64, wrote dozens of prescriptions for oxycodone to just three people from 2016 to late 2018. The prescriptions, the indictment said, were sometimes written on the same day, month after month, 120 or 150 tablets at a time.

Dicroce also is accused of one count of Medicare fraud.

The indictment said Dicroce signed blank prescriptions from May through August 2018 and provided them to his staff, as well as completed preauthorization forms. The staff would then fill out the prescriptions for a controlled substance and write them to patients “although Joseph Dicroce was suffering from a traumatic brain injury, was not cleared to work, was not present in the office, did not see the named patient and conducted no medical care, nor examination of the named patient.”

Dicroce’s attorney, Chuck Porter, said his client fell and hit his head, suffering a serious injury.

The indictment alleges that the scheme continued from August to October, even though Dicroce was only cleared to return to work on a limited basis with the help of a physician’s assistant and supervising physician, the indictment said.

It continued from October to December 2018, as well, investigators said.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Dicroce first obtained his license to practice here in 1984. It was renewed Dec. 16.

Porter said on Monday that his client will enter a plea of not guilty.