Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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Over 300 Utahns died of prescription drug overdose in the past couple of years and those watching the problem say it is exploding.
Some of those getting the drugs are doing it without ever seeing a doctor and without leaving their homes.
Nancy Fitzpatrick received her first dose of the drug Soma from a doctor to help with pain problems. When the prescription stopped, Fitzpatrick turned to the Internet.
"There were like 1,300 Web sites, and I just picked one," she said. Within minutes she placed an order. "They didn't ask you for a prescription. They just mailed it to you."
Within days the drugs arrived at her apartment in Washington State. She kept ordering more and sinking deeper into addiction.
"I knew that I had become addicted, but I didn't know how to get out of it. I just wanted to end my life," Fitzpatrick admitted.
She eventually overdosed and was in a hospital for weeks. Her brother, who she hadn't seen in years, heard about what happened and flew out from New York to see her.
"I found six empty bottles of prescription drugs in my sister's apartment," David Fitzpatrick, an investigative producer for CNN remembered.
He wanted to know where his sister's prescription drugs were coming from. Some bottles had come from overseas. Others from various small pharmacies located around the United States.
"One of the other pharmacies is called Roots Pharmacy. Roots is in American Fork, Utah," said David Fitzpatrick.
The state business listing on Roots Pharmaceuticals says it originated in California. The business is registered to Kyle Rootsaert who we tried to contact by phone and at the business. The pharmacy is located on the second floor of a small two-story office building in American Fork. [Watch as KSL's reporter tries to find Roots Pharmacy]
No one answered the door even though a KSL reporter could hear people inside. KSL found Rootsaert at his American Fork home. When we asked if he would be willing to talk Rootsaert abruptly answered, "No, no I don't do business in Utah."
As we attempted to ask another question, Rootsaert closed the door. No explanation on how Nancy in Washington was getting prescription drugs online without talking to a doctor from this American Fork pharmacy.
"Obtaining the drugs through the Internet has been something we've seen grown over the last five years," said Drug Enforcement Administration investigator Lynnette Wingert. She tracks online drug sales but says there are hundreds, even thousands, of Web sites selling prescription drugs. Some do so legally, but there are plenty that don't.
"These can be located anywhere in the world," said Wingert.
David Fitzpatrick calls the online prescription drug business a national scandal.
"Those false prescriptions with a doctor's name attached are then faxed to clearinghouses around the country," David Fitzpatrick said. "Mostly these are small town pharmacies who have found a way to make money."
Nancy Fitzpatrick hopes telling her story will help keep others from falling into the same trap she did. And she's amazed the pharmacy that sent her drugs from Utah is still open.
"What they are doing is so cruel," she said. "And so, it's all about money to them. They don't care."
She says people should write to their elected leaders to put more emphasis on investigations to find and stop companies that are ruining people's lives by providing an easy way for people to illegally get prescription drugs.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
