Martinez of the Minnesota medical board said it’s “quite infrequent” for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person’s name.
Two Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor’s offices.
Laws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity’s privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.
She represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.
“They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,” Garofalo said Monday.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.
“Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?” Braun said.
