VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla.,None — Florida's new prescription database has led to its first arrest. Investigators said it helped nab a Volusia County nurse who was trafficking oxycodone.
State agents announced the arrest of Jeffery Edwards in Daytona Beach on Friday.
Agents said he illegally got his hands on 40,000 pills within an 18-month period.
An alert pharmacist was working at K-Mart when he ran Edward's name in the prescription drug database, agents said.
The pharmacist said he discovered that Edwards was turning in hundreds of prescriptions at pharmacies throughout the area.
Edwards' nursing license was suspended in 2001 for mishandling Demerol, which is a pain reliever.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents said they are not sure what Edwards did with the pills.
Florida has become known as the "pill mill" capital of the country.
Federal Drug Enforcement Agents said they estimated that Florida doctors prescribe 10 times more oxycodone than the other states combined.
WFTV
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