Cape woman charged for alleged ‘doctor shopping’

A Cape Coral woman is accused of obtaining prescriptions for similar controlled substances from different medical clinics at the same time.
Maxine Short Feliciano, 53, of 1419 N.E. Fifth Lane, was arrested and charged Wednesday with 46 counts of fraud conceal information to obtain prescription. As of Thursday, she had been released on $69,000 bond.
Feliciano did not return a message seeking comment on the charges.
According to an arrest report, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office received information on Feb. 1 from the Renaissance Wellness Center in Fort Myers that a patient, Feliciano, may be doctor shopping two or more physicians.
The center advised that Feliciano was possibly obtaining prescriptions of similar controlled substances from multiple doctors in a 30-day period.
The substances included, but were not limited to, Oxycodone, Soma, Xanax, Clonzepam, Adderall, Oxycotin, Methadone and Suboxone, the report said.
The LCSO initiated an investigation and referenced Florida’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database to get Feliciano’s medical records.
The investigation revealed that Feliciano had reportedly obtained similar substances within a month from more than one doctor without the doctors knowing. This occurred several times from February 2010 to November.
According to the report, she used seven doctors from four clinics.
Feliciano first visited the Family Medical Clinic in Fort Myers in 1999, then she was seen by Multicare Specialists in the Cape in 2006. Her first visit to Southwest Florida Medical Solutions in Bonita Springs was February 2010.
In March 2011, she had her first appointment with Renaissance Wellness.
All four clinics told authorities that Feliciano did not report that she was visiting other physicians and obtaining prescriptions of like therapeutic use.
Feliciano was taken into custody and booked at the Lee County Jail.
She has a court appearance scheduled for June 11.