Pitt professor to face arraignment

A Pitt pharmaceutical researcher charged with obtaining prescription drugs using federal grants and University funds waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning.

Pitt police charged Billy Day, 52, a professor in the School of Pharmacy, on Sept. 25, 2013, with 18 counts of obtaining prescription drugs by fraud. The September 2013 complaint reported Day’s alleged possession of narcotics including midazolam, Demerol, clonazepam and lorazepam, among others. The complaint said Day recreationally injected the drugs.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, said in an email that Day is not in custody and that he “will be formally arraigned within 45 days, at which time a judge will be assigned to the case.”

According to Ken Service, Pitt’s vice chancellor for communications, Day is on a leave of absence from the University. Service declined to comment on whether Day’s leave is paid or unpaid, as “it is a personnel matter.”

Service said the University has not made any policy changes within the School of Pharmacy since the criminal charges were filed against Day.

Phillippe Melograne, Day’s attorney, could not be reached after multiple requests for comment.