Montco DA: Independent druggist made $86k in fake claims

A Blue Bell pharmacy owner has been charged with stealing $86,000 by billing Independence Blue Cross for 874 fraudulent prescriptions, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said today.

Carl Dean, owner of the Blue Bell Pharmacy on DeKalb Pike, was expected to surrender this morning, Ferman's office said.

Ferman said that since 2007, Dean submitted false prescriptions in his name, his wife's name, and their children's names to Blue Cross, his insurance carrier.

He allegedly used the money to support his business.

Investigators contacted the doctors whose names were on the prescriptions and each confirmed the scripts were fake, Ferman said.