Ventura County – Proving once again the powerfully addictive nature of certain medications, a medical professional working out of his Ventura office, who was apparently himself addicted to oxycodone, has been arrested under suspicion of falsifying prescriptions to feed his habit.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Victor Fazio, Randolph Nordyke, MD, a 60-year old resident of San Diego who had recently retired from his Ventura podiatry practice, was actively engaged in “doctor shopping” and on “mutiple occasions wrote prescriptions in one of his former Ventura County patient’s name for large amounts of oxycodone.” Nordyke reportedly traveled to both Ventura and San Diego pharmacies to pick up medications, posing as the individual named on the prescription forms. He is also suspected of calling upon multiple Ventura County physicians with the intent of obtaining additional oxycodone prescriptions.
On February 20th, Nordyke was found at his residence and served with a search warrant by the Health Quality Investigation Unit of the California Division of Investigation and the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit, pursuant to which evidence was found leading to his arrest on “multiple health and safety code and penal code violations.”
Nordyke was transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on charges of identity theft, unlawfully prescribing controlled substances, forging prescriptions, and burglary, with his bail set at $50,000. According to Fazio, the investigation into Nordyke’s activities is continuing and is focused upon identifying any additional identity theft victims.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
Read more:
VCSTAR: Former Ventura podiatrist accused of fraud
KCLU: Retired Ventura County doctor accused of fraud
CBSLA: Ventura podiatrist arrested for allege fraud
