and
his wife, Heather, had been married for twenty-four years and had
three children, who were all grown and out of the house. His plan,
he'd told her was to turn the practice over to her after he
retired. Having her own practice had always been her life's dream,
and Patrick Gross had built a solid, reputable business over the
past ten years.
"It certainly was a challenge, but that's
what I thrive on. Do you have a heavy work load today?" she asked
him.
"Not too bad. My last appointment is at 4:15,
so I might cut out of here early. Maybe get in a little golf."
Dr. Gross could always been found in one of
two places: his practice or the golf course.
Rebecca stood from her desk, and walked
toward him. "There's just one thing I'm wondering."
"Shoot," he said.
"I saw quite a few of your patients yesterday
who are all on high doses of Adderall XR. Is that pretty normal for
you? I mean, I don't have that many kids who are on the medication,
but it seems like you have a lot." When he didn't respond. She
rushed on, "I'm not trying to question you, or anything. I just
thought it was a bit odd."
He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck.
"Can this wait until later? I have a patient waiting."
Great. Now she'd gone and offended him.
"Yeah, sure. It's not like it's a pressing issue…"
But Dr. Gross was already walking away,
effectively ending her inquiry.
She leaned against the doorframe of her
office, and sighed. Dammit, she should have kept her mouth shut.
Why in the world would she think her mentor would break a doctor's
code of ethics, not to mention the law, by passing out illegal
prescriptions? Her first thought was that Dr. Gross was writing
these prescriptions for the adults, and using the kids as an excuse
to hand out the medicine. But wasn't that preposterous? Why would
he risk everything he'd built to dope up some of his friends?
Unless…
No. That thought was too far-fetched. No way,
would Dr. Gross be accepting money under the table for illegal
prescriptions.
Good grief, she'd watched way too many true
crimes shows.
He wasn't that sort of man.
And yet…
There was a way for her to put her suspicions
to rest. She did have his password to access his patient files. She
could easily pull them up and see just how many ADHD patients he
had, compared to her. And she could see how many of the patients
had some sort of personal relationship with him.
What kind of person would that make her? To
go snooping through his patient files, trying to prove he was
committing prescription fraud? What kind of person did that?
On the other hand…
If there was something fishy going on, it was
her duty to find out the truth. The future of the entire practice
could be on the line.
Rebecca sat back down at her desk and pushed
away the papers she'd been working on. After pulling in a resolving
breath, she opened the program that held all the records and
started trolling through them.
She shouldn't be doing this. She shouldn't be
writing down names of the patients who'd been prescribed Adderall
by Dr. Gross. Shouldn't she trust his judgment? So what if almost
all the names on the list were acquainted with Dr. Gross in some
way. Did that mean the man was committing prescription fraud with
his close personal acquaintances? It was so unfathomable to
her.
And yet, something wasn't right. It all went
back to Danielle's behavior and the surprise, borderline panic, in
the woman's eyes when she saw Rebecca. As though she'd been
expecting Dr. Gross, which she had, and hadn't wanted Rebecca to
question Lindsey. But why? It was a routine checkup, and Danielle
had been fidgety and nervous. Lindsey had been fine. More than
fine, actually. She'd seemed like a normal ten year old girl. Her
mother, on the other hand, hadn't seemed normal.
Almost like…
Rebecca shook her head at the thought as she
perused more records. Danielle did not seem like the type of woman
to be addicted to Adderall. She was a professional woman who ran an
office. And
his wife, Heather, had been married for twenty-four years and had
three children, who were all grown and out of the house. His plan,
he'd told her was to turn the practice over to her after he
retired. Having her own practice had always been her life's dream,
and Patrick Gross had built a solid, reputable business over the
past ten years.
"It certainly was a challenge, but that's
what I thrive on. Do you have a heavy work load today?" she asked
him.
"Not too bad. My last appointment is at 4:15,
so I might cut out of here early. Maybe get in a little golf."
Dr. Gross could always been found in one of
two places: his practice or the golf course.
Rebecca stood from her desk, and walked
toward him. "There's just one thing I'm wondering."
"Shoot," he said.
"I saw quite a few of your patients yesterday
who are all on high doses of Adderall XR. Is that pretty normal for
you? I mean, I don't have that many kids who are on the medication,
but it seems like you have a lot." When he didn't respond. She
rushed on, "I'm not trying to question you, or anything. I just
thought it was a bit odd."
He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck.
"Can this wait until later? I have a patient waiting."
Great. Now she'd gone and offended him.
"Yeah, sure. It's not like it's a pressing issue…"
But Dr. Gross was already walking away,
effectively ending her inquiry.
She leaned against the doorframe of her
office, and sighed. Dammit, she should have kept her mouth shut.
Why in the world would she think her mentor would break a doctor's
code of ethics, not to mention the law, by passing out illegal
prescriptions? Her first thought was that Dr. Gross was writing
these prescriptions for the adults, and using the kids as an excuse
to hand out the medicine. But wasn't that preposterous? Why would
he risk everything he'd built to dope up some of his friends?
Unless…
No. That thought was too far-fetched. No way,
would Dr. Gross be accepting money under the table for illegal
prescriptions.
Good grief, she'd watched way too many true
crimes shows.
He wasn't that sort of man.
And yet…
There was a way for her to put her suspicions
to rest. She did have his password to access his patient files. She
could easily pull them up and see just how many ADHD patients he
had, compared to her. And she could see how many of the patients
had some sort of personal relationship with him.
What kind of person would that make her? To
go snooping through his patient files, trying to prove he was
committing prescription fraud? What kind of person did that?
On the other hand…
If there was something fishy going on, it was
her duty to find out the truth. The future of the entire practice
could be on the line.
Rebecca sat back down at her desk and pushed
away the papers she'd been working on. After pulling in a resolving
breath, she opened the program that held all the records and
started trolling through them.
She shouldn't be doing this. She shouldn't be
writing down names of the patients who'd been prescribed Adderall
by Dr. Gross. Shouldn't she trust his judgment? So what if almost
all the names on the list were acquainted with Dr. Gross in some
way. Did that mean the man was committing prescription fraud with
his close personal acquaintances? It was so unfathomable to
her.
And yet, something wasn't right. It all went
back to Danielle's behavior and the surprise, borderline panic, in
the woman's eyes when she saw Rebecca. As though she'd been
expecting Dr. Gross, which she had, and hadn't wanted Rebecca to
question Lindsey. But why? It was a routine checkup, and Danielle
had been fidgety and nervous. Lindsey had been fine. More than
fine, actually. She'd seemed like a normal ten year old girl. Her
mother, on the other hand, hadn't seemed normal.
Almost like…
Rebecca shook her head at the thought as she
perused more records. Danielle did not seem like the type of woman
to be addicted to Adderall. She was a professional woman who ran an
office. And
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