New Haven Doctor Pleads Guilty To Illegally Prescribing Oxycodone

NEW HAVEN, CT — A former New Haven doctor faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in connection with illegally prescribing oxycodone while she was a medical resident at Yale New Haven Health, according to officials.

Jennifer Farrell, 38, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, pleaded guilty Thursday to a narcotics distribution offense related to her illegally writing numerous prescriptions for oxycodone while she was a doctor in New Haven, Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Leonard C Boyle announced.

Farrell was a medical resident at Yale New Haven Health in its Emergency Department from July 2017 until June 2019. From March 2018 to March 2019, Farrell wrote “more than 50 prescriptions for oxycodone for non-legitimate medical purposes outside the scope of her professional practice” in the name of at least five people, according to authorities.

“Farrell did not see any of the other individuals for any medical purpose at any YNHH facility during the entire period of her residency,” officials wrote in a news release. “In total, she wrote illegal prescriptions for nearly 4,000 oxycodone tablets during that approximately one-year period.”

Farrell pleaded guilty to distribution of controlled substances outside the scope of her professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.

Farrell was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on July 31, 2019. She is released on a $200,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for May 26.