Redhill,
Wow, you wrote an excellent post - I'm sure that your words described the feelings of many people here.

Unless there is more to this story - I think that this is just another attempt to bring attention to ops. This is NOT about an op. This is about a college student out to make a quick buck off of a person's pain (or addiction). The first flag should have been those prices. All those meds for less than 300 dollars? Not possible. Anyway - my point is that this was NOT an op - this was a crime, no doubt fraud, etc. But there was no intention of this kid ever sending those medications.

It was not:
"It's simply a high-tech version of an old street crime: The buying and selling of illegal drugs."

Yes, someone was trying to "buy" the drugs. But there was definately NOT going to be any selling.

I was glad to see this sentence:
" The trend, Louisiana authorities say, is driven not just by drug abusers seeking new avenues for narcotics -- but also by patients with legitimately diagnosed conditions desperate for more affordable medications."

Too bad he didn't elaborate more on this. When are the AMA, the Boards of Pharmacies, the "Ethics Panels" etc. going to realize that if patients were being properly treated by their 'real' doctors there would be no need for ops in the first place!