Three physicians, plus four nurse practitioners, a former state assemblyman and five others face a wide variety of criminal charges involving allegations that they turned several New York City clinics into so-called “pill mills.”
The 13 defendants are also charged with defrauding Medicare and Medicaid, prosecutors said. The list of allegations includes health care fraud, criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance, conspiracy, money laundering and more.
The New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s office and the DEA’s Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad recently took the suspects into custody during a series of raids on Brooklyn clinics.
According to a TV station news report, the 13 suspects are accused of bilking $24 million out of Medicare and Medicaid by ordering unneeded medical procedures and then billing the federal programs. The accused also allegedly withheld painkillers if people refused to have the unnecessary procedures performed.
The three clinics allegedly funneled more than six million painkiller pills into the area. Officials said oxycodone prescriptions were often written without any supporting medical reason.
Prosecutors said the prescriptions helped fuel an opioid-addiction problem plaguing the city.
Officials said that last year, the clinics allegedly claimed that some patients accounted for more than 1,000 office visits each per month. Officials said there were more than 20 such patients.
Anyone facing investigation of similar charges should speak with attorneys experienced in helping New York health care professionals avoid criminal charges, fines and civil penalties.
You can contact law firm of Rivas Goldstein, LLP, for more information.