State health regulators say a Coral Springs pharmacist quietly changed customers' opioid prescriptions to divert pills for himself, a move that has now cost him the right to work behind the counter. The Florida Department of Health has filed an administrative complaint and ordered an emergency suspension of his pharmacist license.
The complaint names Anthony Palumbo and accuses him of altering Percocet and oxycodone prescriptions during 2025. The action temporarily bars Palumbo from practicing while state investigators push forward with disciplinary proceedings.
According to the Miami Herald, the complaint alleges Palumbo modified at least one Percocet prescription in April and May 2025 and changed a legitimate oxycodone prescription for another customer. The Herald reports that the state's surgeon general issued an emergency suspension order in February and that the Department of Health followed up by filing the administrative complaint.
What the complaint alleges
Documents from the Florida Department of Health state that Palumbo "obtained possession of Percocet and/or oxycodone from his employer through misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and/or subterfuge" between Jan. 9 and Aug. 13, 2025. The filing cites multiple instances in which prescriptions were allegedly altered or rewritten and says Palumbo used his access at the pharmacy to obtain controlled drugs outside normal procedures.
Workplace response and criminal status
The Miami Herald identifies Palumbo as a Coral Springs pharmacist who worked at a Publix pharmacy and reports that the company did not reply to an email asking about his employment status. Palumbo also "did not respond to a phone message and email," the paper says.
Broward County online court records show no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the administrative complaint so far, according to the Herald.
Why regulators used an emergency order
Emergency suspension orders are an administrative tool the Florida surgeon general and the Department of Health use to immediately restrict or remove health care practitioners who are alleged to pose an imminent danger to public safety while complaints work through the disciplinary process, according to the Florida Department of Health.
That temporary bar allows the agency to pursue formal disciplinary action, including administrative hearings that can result in fines, restrictions or revocation of a license, without waiting for a separate criminal investigation to wrap up.
The administrative complaint now moves into the state disciplinary system, a process that can take months to resolve. Prosecutors could still pursue criminal charges if investigators or law enforcement develop additional evidence. The case underscores long running worries about diversion of controlled substances inside retail pharmacies and the difficulty regulators face in spotting and stopping that kind of misconduct.
