GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – Officials have charged a Grosse Pointe Park pharmacy owner, a Detroit doctor and three others with running a prescription drug ring in several cities around Wayne County.
Hasna Bashir Iwas, 60, of New Baltimore, is accused of operating a prescription drug ring in Detroit, Grosse Pointe Park, River Rouge and other cities. She worked alongside Detroit Dr. Otis Crawford and three other people who were charged, but Crawford died of natural causes before his sentencing, authorities said.
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Iwas was the owner and operator of Beacon Pointe Pharmacy in Grosse Pointe Park, according to police. She used her pharmacy to fill hundreds of fraudulent prescriptions issued by Crawford’s clinic for oxycodone, hydrocodone, Xanax and promethazine with codeine syrup, officials allege.
Crawford’s prescriptions alone added up to an estimated street value of more than $2 million, according to authorities.
Iwas is also accused of filling more than 600 forged prescriptions under the names of various doctors for a forgery ring operating in Detroit, federal officials said.
In that scheme, Iwas would charge cash to fill fake prescriptions even when patients had insurance, authorities said. She insisted that she always required patients to be present to fill their controlled substance prescriptions and denied filling multiple prescriptions for a “runner” presenting a group of forged prescriptions, according to records.
But one of the forged prescriptions charged in the indictment was filled the day after the “patient” was murdered, according to police.
“We will continue to hold accountable healthcare professionals who seek to enrich themselves by illegally distributing controlled substances,” Acting United States Attorney Saima Mohsin said. “Our commitment to combatting the opioid crisis is unwavering.”
Iwas is charged with unlawful distribution of prescription drug controlled substances, conspiracy, and unlawfully maintaining a drug-involved premises.
