Pharmacist accused of funneling Rx records to attorneys

A South Carolina pharmacist has been indicted for allegedly providing confidential prescription records from the state’s database to aid attorneys in court cases.

According to an article in the Post and Courier, pharmacist Timothy Keisler and drug tester Robert Bennett are both charged with misusing the state’s prescription drug database.

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Keisler, 49, co-owns Preferred Care Pharmaceutical Services in Hollywood, South Carolina. He is accused of retrieving prescription records and providing those records to Bennett, 57, who operates Medical-Legal Services in West Ashley, South Carolina. Bennett is accused of subsequently sharing those records with attorneys.

Jerry Theos, Bennett’s attorney, said his client has done nothing wrong, and sought the prescription records in cases involving court orders, subpoenas, or in which the patients consented.

Keisler has legal access to the state’s prescription database. However, prosecutors claim he retrieved the records of people not in his care and gave those records to Bennett.

In 2005, Keisler was charged with stealing painkillers from his pharmacy for his own personal use, according to the Post and Courier. The newspaper said that charges were dismissed after Keisler completed a year of probation.

Keisler and Bennett both face up to five years in prison for one felony conspiracy count. In addition, Keisler faces two counts of improperly accessing and sharing records. Each of those counts could bring 10 years imprisonment.

Court records did not provide specifics about the patients involved or how the prescription records were used. The state's prescription monitoring database houses more than 63 million records.