Pinellas County Narcotics detectives arrested a Bay Pines VA Hospital doctor, saying he had a stash of illegally-obtained Valium pills.
Dr. Richard Carpenter is a surgeon at Bay Pines. According to the investigation, he has been prescribing the drugs, mostly Valium (Diazepam), for himself since October 2012.
The investigators said, he used another doctor's name when calling in the prescriptions, then used his own health insurance to pay for the pills.
Dr. Carpenter now faces 5 counts of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, and one count of Attempt to Obtain a Controlled Substance by Fraud.
Investigators say he had at least 500 Valium pills at the time of arrest.
