Woman faked terminal cancer to get thousands of oxycodone pills, PA officials say
A Pennsylvania woman pretended to have terminal lung cancer to obtain thousands of oxycodone pills in a three-year period, officials said.
Brandi Leigh Bachman, 40, was charged with 21 counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by fraud, identity theft and criminal use of a communication facility on Aug. 1, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Her attorney information was not listed.
The woman told multiple health care providers that she had “a malignant melanoma that had metastasized to her lungs” to convince them to give her oxycodone, according to prosecutors.
Bachman also forged documents and stole identities of three physicians to help her get the prescription pain medication, officials said.
Between 2021 and 2024, she acquired 8,298 pills of oxycodone, the attorney general’s office said. She targeted providers in Monroe County, where she lived, Lehigh County and Carbon County.
“When providers would suggest treatment and additional testing to confirm her diagnosis, Bachman would often reply that she did not want treatment anymore; she just wanted care to help ease the end of her life,” prosecutors said.
Bachman was arrested July 30 and her bond was set at $25,000, officials said. She is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14.
Monroe County is about a 105-mile drive north from Philadelphia.
