Police: Woman Used Sister's Name to Get Prescription

A woman has been charged with illegally trying to obtain prescription painkillers from a St. Louis Park hospital by providing hospital personnel with a phony name.

Christina Louise Anderson, 38, who has no permanent address, is charged with felony fifth-degree drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of a $3,000 fine.

St. Louis Park police were called to Methodist Hospital at about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 15 on a report of an attempted prescription forgery and an attempted theft of hospital property, according to the criminal complaint, signed by St. Louis Park Police Officer Dennis Hagen.

Police learned Anderson had checked into the hospital earlier that evening, using the name Patricia Olson. As soon as she was admitted, she complained of tooth pain and asked a nurse when she would be able to get pain medication, the complaint said.

Anderson received a numbing injection in her mouth and was given a prescription for Percocet in the name of Patricia Olson. When Anderson tried to fill the prescription at the hospital’s pharmacy, an employee told her she needed to present identification, and so she left without the pills, according to the complaint.

When staff cleaned the hospital room in which Anderson had stayed, they found Anderson’s coat, along with a bag filled with hospital supplies, including syringes. Hospital staff told police they believed that Anderson planned to steal the items, but forgot the bag when she left.

Anderson returned to the hospital a few hours later, complaining again of tooth pain. Nursing staff were suspicious, because the numbing injection that Anderson received two hours earlier should have still been effective, according to the complaint.

A security guard asked Anderson for her true identity, and she admitted that she had used her sister’s name so she could get treatment and medication, the complaint charges. She said she didn’t want to talk about the bag that she left in her room, but added that she thought the syringes were used for “feeding children,” according to the complaint.

Anderson has been released from custody on a $3,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her case is scheduled Jan. 14 in Hennepin County District Court.