** North Carolina man busted for impersonating paramedic, practicing medicine without a licence
** New Hampshire medic’s drug trial postponed to March
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Greenville, North Carolina man has been charged with impersonating EMS personnel after being
arrested on several drugs related charges. That is the word from The Rocky Mountain Telegram (Sharieka
Breedan/August 20) which said Tarboro resident Marty Travis Pittman, 47, has also been tagged with
trafficking opium or heroin, possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, misdemeanor larceny, and
practicing medicine without a licence x 6. According to the newspaper, Pittman, who is a former
semi-professional football coach, allegedly administered lidocaine and cortisone to high school and
college football players while representing himself as an EMT and orthopedic assistant. Other drug
components of the case involving narcotics remain under investigation. Checks with the state, meanwhile,
found no EMS certifications listed under Pittman’s name.
** A former New Hampshire fire-medic, tagged with 29 felony narcotics charges, will not go to trial until
March. Fosters.com (Brian Early/August 19) said Rochester resident Donald Penney, 50, was to have seen
jury selection start September 1st, but this will now take place March 8th with the trial beginning the following
day. According to the newspaper, Penney has been charged with taking fentanyl and hydromorphone from
stocks at Frisbie Memorial Hospital between April 2012 and August 2013. He was employed there as a
paramedic at the time. Police allege he also doctored medical records to appear as though the meds were
administered to patients when they were not. Penney was fired in August 2013 after 20 years employment
at the hospital. He is also a former fire lieutenant.
