CRANBERRY TWP — A retired area doctor is facing charges for allegedly forging prescriptions and paying for a Butler County man to fill them.

Sung Hong, 77, of Gibsonia was charged Feb. 1 by the state Attorney General's office with two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of acquiring or obtaining possession of a controlled substance through misrepresentation.

According to court documents, officials at Ellwood City Hospital contacted state narcotics agents in August 2017 about fraudulent prescriptions being written for Ritalin and Zolpidem, a sleeping aid.

The prescriptions were taken to a Cranberry Township drugstore, where the pharmacist refused to fill them due to the large quantity requested. Hong was listed as the prescribing doctor, documents state.

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