2 Dyer Co. women charged with TennCare fraud

DYER COUNTY, Tenn. — Two West Tennessee women are charged in separate TennCare fraud doctor shopping cases.

Wesley, left, and Young

Latonya Wesley, 20, also known as Tonya Pirtle, of Newbern, and Britni Young, 20, of Dyersburg, are both accused of using TennCare to visit multiple doctors within 30 days to obtain prescriptions for painkillers, according to a release from the Office of Inspector General.

The arrests were announced Thursday.

Wesley is charged with three counts of using TennCare to doctor shop for the painkiller Hydrocodone.

Young is charged with four counts of doctor shopping for Hydrocodone.

TennCare fraud is a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

“Halting the abuse of TennCare benefits, especially to fraudulently obtain addictive pain medication, is our number one priority,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said in the release. “Local police, providers and the health care community are with us in the effort to weed this problem out of the TennCare program.”