Sherrif's Office: Doctor Shopping Suspect Had 3,900 Pain Pills In 10 Months

A 32-year-old north Sarasota woman is facing 20 counts of doctor shopping from the .

Amanda Merritt of 4122 Bradenton Road faces those charges by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office after the sheriff's office learned that Merritt was prescribed various types of pain pills from multiple doctors, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The affidavit reads like a cocktail of pills that Merritt had prescriptions from doctors and dentists including, Hydrocodone, Alprazolam, Lorazepam, Carisoprodol, Clonazepm, Diazepam, Oxycodone, Percocet and Triazolam. Merritt also had sleeping drug Lunesta but was not part of the charges because it's not classified as a controlled dangerous substance, according to the affidavit.

In all, Merritt, a gymnastics coach for in Bradenton, was prescribed 3,900 pills over a 10-month period in 2011, according to the sheriff's office.

Merritt was reported on Aug. 30 when she visited a dental office where she was prescribed 16 Vidocin tablets and left without paying, according to the affidavit. The dentist called pharmacists asking to not fill the prescription, then the pharmacist checked the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database and after reviewing Merritt's prescription history, believed she was doctor shopping, according to the affidavit.

Merritt was taken into custody at her home Thursday and charged with 20 counts of Withholding Information from a Practitioner in Order to Obtain a Controlled Substance, according to the sheriff's office.

During the investigation, detectives talked to the physicians who prescribed Merritt the pills and reported that she either owed them money or had walked out without paying, according to the affidavit.

The sheriff's office wants the medical community to be aware and to utilize the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program as the there has been a "substantial increase in patients seeking controlled substances from non-traditional providers" of pain pills, according to the sheriff's office, adding that it's not just pain management clinics that are having issues.