DrugBuyers.Com: Fishtown Pharmacist Arrested

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Fishtown Pharmacist Arrested

Philadelphia, PA June 4, 2003 Pharmacist Ron Hyman (image-left) of Esterson's Pharmacy located at 2328 East Norris Street in Fishtown was arrested this morning.

The DEA took him into custody and shut down the store when he opened at 9am.

Hyman turned in Dr. Richard Paolino in Bensalem for writing illegal prescriptions in March of 2001.

Authorities have arrested Hyman alledging similar crimes.

Between October and January, undercover agents said they got prescriptions filled for the cancer drug at Hyman's pharmacy; supposedly telling him that the prescrips were from Dr. Woody, and in exchange for services rendered.

The prosecution said Hyman provided hundreds of the tablets.

Hyman was able to post $50,000 bail but had no comment for reporters after he was released.

One woman who lives across from the pharmacy says she always wondered about his business- if these allegations turn out to be true then it would make sense how he could stay in business.

Copyright Action News, 2003.

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM A PREVIOUS ACTION NEWS REPORT
Customers are rallying around their Fishtown pharmacist, after somebody tried to firebomb his business.

The pharmacist recently helped turn-in a doctor who's charged with writing illegal prescriptions for the painkiller OxyContin, which has become a favorite and fatal street drug.

Pharmacist Ron Hyman has spent his professional life trying to do right.

RON HYMAN/PHARMACIST:

"I'm a pharmacist, and I'm here to save lives, and help people---and that's what pharmacists do."
But police are investigating whether his ultimate good deed led to a pair of molotov cocktails.. being thrown onto his store's roof on March Sixteenth and Seventeenth.
The damage was minimal.

Hyman was one of several pharmacists who blew the whistle on Bensalem Doctor Richard Paolino, charged earlier this month with writing illegal prescriptions for drugs, including the pain killer OxyContin.

The white, pink, yellow and green pills which are marked with "O-C" on one side and the dosage on the other have surfaced as a street drug for teens, and have been linked to several recent overdoses.

But word of the firebombings has sparked support; there've been visits and letters and e-mails from grateful neighbors and parents. There was even a makeshift award from local school kids. Hyman says it all helps, especially in light of the firebombs.

HYMAN:

"I didn't do it maliciously, I didn't do it to hurt anybody. I did it because kids were dying."
The neighborhood support includes the father of an Oxy victim who is himself taking a proactive role.
Edward Bisch has just opened a website, Oxykills.com, in memory of his son Eddie, who overdosed on Oxycontin on February Nineteenth. Bisch understands the drug's benefits.

EDWARD BISCH/VICTIM'S FATHER:

"There's a lot of people who actually depend on it for chronic pain. But as good as it is for them, it's just as bad for kids who fool around with it."
You can access Bisch's website by CLICKING HERE. It includes memorials, news articles from around the country, and information on the addictiveness of OxyContin. Bish says he's already received plenty of appreciative e-mails thanking him and people like Ron Hyman for trying to stop the drug's abuse.
-In Fishtown, David Murphy, Channel Six, Action News.

Last Updated: Jun 4, 2003

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"Whosoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others." Dr Albert Schweitzer