Medicaid fraud Archives - Monitor Telegram

Twenty Individuals – Including Four Doctors – Charged with Enterprise Corruption in Massive $146 Million Health Care Fraud

December 5, 2017

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with United States Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General New York region Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks, New York State Medicaid Inspector General Dennis Rosen and New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo today announced that four doctors are among 34 defendants – 20 individuals and 14 corporations – named in an 878-count indictment that alleges that they participated in a massive scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare and other publicly-funded insurance providers of approximately $146 million over three years.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These defendants allegedly exploited the poorest among us to divert millions of dollars from publicly-funded insurance programs these same vulnerable people rely on. Some of the defendants then used the stolen funds to maintain a lavish lifestyle consisting of multi-million dollar homes, expensive handbags and luxury travel. This massive scheme, which provided no patient care at all, wasted millions of taxpayer dollars dedicated to Medicaid and Medicare, which serve as a lifeline for so many Americans – our families, our friends, our neighbors. I cannot and will not allow this type of corruption and fraud to take place in Brooklyn and will spend every resource to stop it.”

New Jersey becomes latest state to sue Purdue Pharma over OxyContin

October 31, 2017

New Jersey filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the company that manufactures OxyContin, claiming a “direct link” between the state’s opioid crisis and the firm’s deceptive marketing practices.

State Attorney General Christopher Porrino says the five-count lawsuit against Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma and two of its entities seeks undisclosed monetary damages for fraud and false claims.

Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $417M in trial over talc cancer risks

August 23, 2017

A California jury on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $417 million US to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products like Johnson’s Baby Powder for feminine hygiene.

The Los Angeles Superior Court jury’s verdict in favour of California resident Eva Echeverria was the largest yet in lawsuits alleging J&J failed to adequately warn consumers about the cancer risks of its talc-based products.

Doctor’s office tied to $67M healthcare fraud case

August 21, 2017

A medical practice in Tennessee and a pharmacy in Utah are both implicated in a $67 million healthcare fraud investigation.

The alleged kickback scheme involved Marines in the San Diego, California, area who were used to defraud TRICARE, the military’s health insurance provider, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Texas doctor slapped with 35-year sentence and $268M in restitution for massive fraud scheme

August 14, 2017

A 60-year-old Dallas-area doctor will spend decades in prison and pay more than $268 million dollars in restitution after being convicted of conspiracy and healthcare fraud charges as well as obstruction of justice for a scheme that bilked Medicare and Medicaid for hundreds of million of dollars.

For what the Department of Justice called a “large-scale, sophisticated healthcare fraud scheme,” physician Jacques Roy, was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison along with the hefty restitution penalty, for conspiring with several co-defendants to defraud Medicare and Medicaid through companies they owned, including Medistat Group Associates, Apple of Your Eye Health Care Services, Ultimate Care Home Health Services and Charry Home Care Services.

Psych center employee charged with abuse, fraud

August 8, 2017

MARCY — An employee at the Central New York Psychiatric Center has been charged with defrauding Workers’ Compensation after law enforcement officials said he was caught kayaking on a Caribbean vacation.

Ryan P. Haley, 30, of Rome, unlawfully received more than $2,500 from the state Workers’ Compensation while on pre-planned vacations to Puerto Rico and California, according to the state Inspector General. Haley also physically harassed a Psych Center patient after he returned to work, officials said.

Haley is a security hospital treatment assistant at the Pysch Center, officials said.

Washington Declares War on Opioid Epidemic, Fraudulent Doctors

August 7, 2017

The US war on the opioid epidemic is heating up, with 3 recent noteworthy developments.

On July 31, Chris Christie, chair of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, issued his interim report, calling the recommendation to declare the opioid epidemic a national emergency the most important of all. (Among the other recommendations: mandating physician education, increasing availability of the overdose reversal agent naloxone).¹

Leaders of $374 Million Home Health Care Fraud Denied Acquittal

August 7, 2017

After being sentenced for participation in a $374 million home heath care fraud scheme, two home health agency owners and a Dallas-area doctor have been denied acquittal.

Jacques Roy, M.C., 59; Cynthia Stiger, 54; and Charity Eleda, 56, were convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Roy was also convicted on eight counts of health care fraud, and Eleda on four counts.

American fugitive accused of millions in Medicaid fraud detained in Montreal

July 18, 2017

An American fugitive accused of defrauding Connecticut’s Medicaid program of $4 million was arrested at Montreal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Thursday.

Ramil Mansourov, 47, and his colleague Bharat Patel, who ran a private, family medical practice in Connecticut, were charged with writing prescriptions for such drugs as oxycodone outside the scope of legitimate medical practice, health care fraud, and money laundering. Patel remains in Connecticut, where he was arrested at his home.

Austin-area medical professionals indicted in record-breaking healthcare fraud enforcement

July 13, 2017

AUSTIN – Two Austin psychologists and a Cedar Park patient recruiter have been indicted in part of what is now being called the largest health care fraud enforcement action in Department of Justice history.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced the record-breaking health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force on Thursday.