Cedar Park Man Accused Of 'Doctor Shopping' To Amass Drugs From 17 Doctors

CEDAR PARK, TX — A local man is accused of fraudulently obtaining hundreds of painkillers by securing prescriptions for controlled substance from more than a dozen doctors, according to a published report.

Referencing an arrest affidavit, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Rafael Humberto Ponce Jr., 45, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance by fraud. The allegations center on Ponce obtaining the drugs from 17 doctors in a practice known as "doctor shopping," according to the affidavit.

Investigators were tipped off to the scheme in May after a surgeon at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Round Rock told police he had prescribed medication to Ponce for should and arm pain, only to learn from the pharmacy that the man was getting controlled substances from multiple doctors, the newspaper reported.

Regulators later discovered Ponce had visited 17 doctors from October 2015 to last month receiving nearly 2,000 doses of prescriptions for 16 different medications in the process. Among the obtained drugs: 200 tablets of hydrocone, 125 tablets of Tramadol, 70 tablets of Acetaminophen-Codeine Phosphate and 300 doses of Codeine-Guaifenesin, according to the report.

The charge of possession of a controlled substance by fraud is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

Rafael Humberto Ponce Jr. booking photo via Williamson County Jail records