By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The state has suspended a registered nurse whose clinics were raided as a Centralia police drug investigation led them to a former Napavine man allegedly running a drug ring from prison this summer and into at least three other counties.
In mid-June, search warrants were served in Tumwater and Aberdeen focusing on medical records and other documents. New Beginnings Wellness Centers was operated by a nurse practitioner named Sharol Chavez.
The state Department of Health yesterday announced charges against Chavez alleging sub-standard care in medical marijuana authorizations and prescriptions for narcotics without proper patient examinations. The state charges in some cases she was aware some of her prescriptions were supplying Oxycodone pills to the illegal marketplace.
The Centralia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Team efforts to quash illegal pain pill sales in Centralia took them to Forrest E. Amos who they believed was began heading up a drug trafficking organization from prison after his local conviction in January for possessing prescription drugs without authorization. Searches of Chavez’s medical clinics were conducted on June 17, involving law enforcement from Centralia and numerous other agencies.
Chavez has 20 days to request a hearing to contest the licensing charges. After the raids, Centralia Police Department St. Jim Shannon said federal authorities would be reviewing the documents seized to examine them for possible criminal charges.
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For background, read “Centralia police track illegal Oxycodone trade to prison inmate” from Tuesday June 18, 2013, here [1]