Forging a Prescription

It’s obviously something that’s against the law to forge a prescription. Generally, it’s defined as an illegal acquisition of the pharmaceuticals for personal profit or usage. Many people commit the prescription fraud in a few different ways, including visiting multiple doctors for various prescriptions, and forging a prescription for increasing the quantity. The greatest factor the increase in  prescription fraud is the addiction to narcotics through prescription medication.

Health and Safety Code Section 11368 states the crime and its punishment, reading:

"Every person who forges or alters a prescription or who issues or utters an altered prescription, or who issues or utters a prescription bearing a forged or fictitious signature for any narcotic drug, or who obtains any narcotic drug by any forged, fictitious, or altered prescription, or who has in possession any narcotic drug secured by a forged, fictitious, or altered prescription, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six months nor more than one year, or in the state prison." (Emphasis added)

Forged instrument uttering refers to making use of passing of a forged document or writing with the knowledge of its forged nature. For instance, presentation of a forged prescription at a pharmacy is said to be uttering.

CALJIC “The California Criminal Jury Instructions” outline the fundamentals necessary for convicting someone for a prescription’s forgery. CALJIC 12.05 reads in pertinent part:

"In order to prove this crime, each of the following elements must be proved:

A person forged/altered/issued/uttered a form for the prescription of drugs; and
As forged/altered issued/uttered the prescription was for [a narcotic drug].

Or

A person issued a form for the prescription of drugs;

The prescription was for [a narcotic drug]; and
The signature on the prescription was forged/fictitious/the prescription had been altered."