THIBODAUX - Authorities arrested a man accused of pretending to be a doctor in order to get access to pain medication.

On Jan. 26 at approximately 3:39 p.m., police were called to the Thibodaux Regional Medical Center Emergency Room after a suspicious encounter with a patient.

The patient was identified as 33-year-old Dustin Gatlin.

Before he arrived at the hospital, someone claiming to be "Dr. Clark" called in a prescription for pain medication for Gatlin. When he arrived, Gatlin asked for medical assistance and his prescription called in by "Dr. Clark."

According to a release, a staff doctor left Gatlin alone in the room to call "Dr. Clark." The doctor believed that Gatlin answered the phone pretending to be a doctor by disguising his voice. The doctor told authorities that "Dr. Clark" could not answer basic questions about Gatlin's medical needs and seemed as though he was reading from a script.

Before police arrived, Gatlin told a nurse to ask for another doctor at the hospital to get his pain medication because he didn't trust the one taking care of him.

When police asked for Gatin's number, he claimed not to know it and pretended to search for his phone. Through their investigation, police were able to determine that Gatlin posed as "Dr. Clark" to get the medication.

Gatlin was arrested and charged with obtaining CDS by fraud/forgery.