A former medical resident for Yale New Haven Health has been sentenced to 30 days in prison for writing illegal prescriptions for the painkiller oxycodone.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer recently imposed the sentence on Jennifer Farrell, 38, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
After Farrell serves her time, she will be on supervised release for three years. During that time, she must perform 600 hours of community service.
Farrell is required to surrender to U.S. Marshals to begin serving her sentence on July 7.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Farrell had worked as a medical resident at Yale’s emergency department from July 2017 until June 2019.
Farrell was accused of writing more than 50 prescriptions for oxycodone for non-legitimate medical purposes in the name of at least five individuals. Farrell allegedly never saw any of these individuals for any medical purpose.
During a one-year period, she wrote illegal prescriptions for nearly 4,000 oxycodone tablets, according to federal prosecutors.
Farrell was charged in 2019. In March of this year, she pleaded guilty to distributing a controlled substance outside the scope of her professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
According to court documents, in exchange for writing the prescriptions, other participants in the conspiracy gave Farrell some of the pills for her own personal use.
Kelly M. Barrett, first assistant federal defender, who represented Farrell, said her client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to surviving traumatic events, including an earthquake and being a crime victim.
“Ms. Farrell’s history of complex trauma precipitated a debilitating addiction, which motivated the offense,” the defense’s pre-sentencing memorandum states.
Farrell lost her medical license. After Farrell’s indictment, Yale New Haven Health issued a statement indicating that it was fully cooperating with authorities and Farrell was no longer affiliated with the health system.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
