The 2-year-old child of a drunken Oldsmar couple was inside their running car, hysterically crying and trying to wake them, when a Largo Mall security guard spotted the family in the mall's parking lot Saturday night, Largo police said. ...more

November 25, 2007

SEBRING — A growing number of adolescents are starting to turn to over-the-counter and prescription drugs for a high. "Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic across the country," said Sgt. Monica Sauls, of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. "While the use of popular gateway drugs has decreased, the number of teens abusing medication has steadily increased." Sauls points to a 2005 study used during D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) presentations that shows that 4.7 millions teens admitted taking prescription medication that was not prescribed to them. The number ranks third among drugs that teens have tried, behind only marijuana and inhalants. ...more

November 6, 2007

SEBRING — A Sebring woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of drug trafficking and forgery for using her employment at a local doctor's office to fax fake prescription papers to local Walgreens to obtain prescription medication. Ira Lorena Bareno, 28, of 1629 Lagrange Ave., entered a no-contest plea to charges that she obtained the drug Vicoprofen illegally. Bareno, who is currently out on bond, has a Dec. 17 sentencing date set before Judge Peter Estrada in the Highlands County Courthouse. ...more

November 2, 2007

One of the men in scrubs in the doctor's lounge at Tampa General Hospital was not a doctor at all but an imposter, Tampa police say. ...more

October 12, 2007

TAMPA - A Spring Hill man has been arrested for posing as a doctor at an area hospital and as an orthopedist at a company in Tampa, authorities said. Anthony James David, 30, of 5191 Merrifield Court, was arrested after the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation was tipped off, according to a Tampa Police Department news release. ...more

October 11, 2007

Mess On Medication Regarding 'Hillsborough Needs To Address School Nurses' Warnings - Stat' (Our Opinion, Oct. 5): ...more

October 6, 2007