Horry County doctor illegally prescribed drugs, lied about previous conviction: warrant
An Horry County doctor was arrested for unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance, lying about a previous drug conviction to the state health department, and creating fraudulent medical records, according to an arrest warrant.
Christopher W. Degn, a physician with Carolina Radiology Associates in Myrtle Beach, was arrested and booked into county jail on Thursday. The arresting agency is the South Carolina Bureau of Drug Control, which is a division of the state health department.
According to the Carolina Radiology Associates website, Degn has been with the group since 2019. The website states that he specializes in body imaging radiology.
The arrest warrants state that in July Degn lied about a previous controlled substance conviction on a South Carolina Controlled Substances Registration Application, which is illegal. The charges were brought in Logan, Utah, which is in Cache County.
The Cache County District Court confirmed that in 2016 Degn was sentenced to nearly a year in jail for the possession or use of a controlled substance and two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The jail time was suspended for both charges and Degn was instead fined and placed on probation. He pleaded no contest to the possession charge and guilty to driving under the influence, according to Cache County court records.
The South Carolina Controlled Substances Registration Application authorizes providers to prescribe, administer, possess and dispense controlled substances. The licensing is regulated by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. The controlled substances application that Degn is accused of lying about corresponds to the address of Carolina Radiology Associates in Myrtle Beach.
According to one of the arrest warrants, Degn unlawfully prescribed amphetamine salts to his girlfriend in October “without establishing a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship by performing and documenting an appropriate examination, making a diagnosis, and formulating a therapeutic plan.” The prescription was dispensed at a Walgreens in Myrtle Beach.
Another warrant states that in December, Degn provided fake patient medical records during a search warrant at Carolina Radiology Associates. During an interview with police, Degn admitted to creating fraudulent documents before meeting with an agent of the South Carolina Bureau of Drug Control.
Degn’s bond for all three charges has been set at $15,000.
An attempt to reach Carolina Radiology Associates was unsuccessful.
