Bush Family Member Charged With Prescription Fraud

Jan. 30 -- The president's 24-year-old niece, Noelle Bush, faces a prescription fraud charge after allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax without a doctor's prescription.

Noelle Bush, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's only daughter, was released from jail Tuesday, one day afterafter she was arrested at a Tallahassee pharmacy drive-through window while trying to pick up Xanax without a doctor's prescription.

Gov. Bush issued a statement after his daughter's arrest that read, in part: "This is a very serious problem. Unfortunately, substance abuse is an issue confronting many families across our nation."

Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, founder of the Phoenix House drug treatment program, says the governor's statement rings true.

"There is a huge number of people in America, 4 million people, who are using prescription drugs, painkillers, stimulants and sedatives," Rosenthal said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "This is four times as many people who are using heroin. It is a very serious problem."

Dr. Noel Scidmore?

The Tallahassee pharmacist, Carlos Zimmerman, told police he had received two messages on the store's voicemail from someone identifying herself as "Dr. Noel Scidmore." The caller left a detailed prescription for Xanax for Noelle Bush.

Zimmerman called the doctor's answering service to confirm the prescription, and a colleague of Dr. Scidmore responded to Zimmerman's call.

"Dr. Wickstrom called me back indicating that Dr. Scidmore is moving and isn't really practicing now, and said it was a fake and to bust her," Zimmerman said in a statement to police.

Prescription Drug Fraud a Common Problem

Candy Tsourounis, assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco's School of Pharmacy, said the issue of prescription drug fraud is nothing new. "Often a doctor's prescription pad is stolen and the person in need has someone write out the prescription as if it were real," she said. "Other people attempt to phone in a prescription to a pharmacy, impersonating a nurse or physician. Unless the person doing the impersonating is really clever, most people would suspect something," she said.