TEXAS
Thirteen defendants, including three compounding pharmacy owners, three physicians, two pharmacists, and three patient recruiters, pleaded guilty in federal court in Texas to a years-long, multi-state scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and TRICARE, officials announced Wednesday.
The defendants were charged in a June 2018 indictment and plead guilty to wire fraud, health care fraud, and/or kickback charges involving the $126 million scheme.
All 13 defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in February. They up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake of the Southern District of Texas will determine the sentences.
According to court documents, the defendants submitted false and fraudulent claims to the OWCP and TRICARE for prescriptions for compounded and other drugs prescribed to injured federal workers and members of the armed forces.
The defendants also paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and to physicians to induce them to prescribe these drugs.
The defendants chose the particular compounds and other drugs based not on the patients’ medical needs but in light of the amount of reimbursement for the drugs.
The drugs were then mailed to patients, even though the patients often never requested, wanted, or needed them.
“The health care fraud and kickback scheme executed by these defendants manipulated federal health care programs for personal gain without regard for patient need or medical necessity,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Last week’s guilty pleas are a testament to the dedication and determination of the investigative and legal teams,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Ulrich of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Southern Area Field Office. “The Postal Service spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on health care-related costs and these monies are critical to those who legitimately need medical services. As in this case, our criminal investigators will diligently pursue any individual or organization intent on defrauding the Postal Service with an eye on both federal prosecution and returning lost monies to the affected program.”