The state attorney general’s office announced Wednesday that it has arrested a suspect in an alleged prescription drug ring that Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said provided illegal drugs to actor Corey Haim.
Haim was found unresponsive last week at his mother’s apartment. He later died at a hospital in what Los Angeles Police Department officials said appeared to be an accidental overdose. Then on Friday, Brown said his office was investigating a "massive" drug ring that provided prescriptions for Haim.
Spokeswoman Christine Gasparac would not identify the suspect, saying the case was ongoing. "I can confirm there has been an arrest, but I have no other details."
She added that investigation began well before Haim’s death and that the suspect might not directly have provided the drugs that caused the 1980s teen actor’s death.
Brown said an unauthorized prescription under Haim’s name was found
during an ongoing investigation of fraudulent prescription drug pads
ordered from a San Diego vendor.
The drug ring operates by using
stolen doctor identities to order prescription drug pads from authorized
sellers. The prescription forms are then sold on the street to addicts
or drug dealers who have them filled at pharmacies. Doctors whose names
are used on the prescriptions are usually unaware that their identities
have been stolen.
Detectives reportedly found prescription drugs
at Haim’s home.
“Corey
Haim’s death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of
prescription drug abuse,” Brown said Friday.
He said investigators so
far have uncovered about 5,000 fraudulent prescriptions linked to the
drug ring.
–Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Corey Haim. Credit: Getty Images