Philipsburg physician assistant may be a ‘danger’ to public health, so the state is taking action

Holly Jean Hipps has been arrested, charged with several felonies and now her license has been temporarily suspended by the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The status of the suspension will be decided at a future hearing for which the date has not been disclosed.

The Department of State said in a press release that Hipps, 41, a physician assistant, “may be an immediate and clear danger” to public health.

Hipps allegedly filled out dozens of oxycodone prescriptions from September 2011 to August 2016 to be used by Dennis Lee Lingle, 60. She told investigators of the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office that Lingle asked for pain prescriptions for him but in his wife’s name. Hipps said she initially denied his request. But she reversed her decision for undisclosed reasons.

Hipps was unable to provide agents from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office with medical records for the Lingle family, but admitted to writing the prescriptions, according to an affidavit. She had been employed at Caring Health Network in Philipsburg.

Lingle paid Hipps $1,500 for oxycodone prescriptions, according to the affidavit. More than 70 prescriptions were allegedly filled for Lingle in his wife’s and her cousin’s names without their knowledge.

The license of DuBois doctor Henry Dela Torre, 68, was also temporarily suspended pending a hearing, according to the release. Dela Torre is facing felony charges for allegedly over-prescribing opioids that caused the overdoses of two patients.

Shawn Annarelli: 814-235-3928, @Shawn_Annarelli

This story was originally published February 8, 2018 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Philipsburg physician assistant may be a ‘danger’ to public health, so the state is taking action."