WASHINGTON D.C.
Gisele Nguyen, a pharmacist residing in Huntington Beach, California, has agreed to pay $3.9 million to resolve allegations that she fraudulently billed the Medicare Program for medications that were never dispensed, officials announced last week.
From Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2018, Nguyen’s Natico Pharmacy, located in Garden Grove, California, fraudulently submitted claims to Part D of the Medicare Program for prescription medications never dispensed to beneficiaries.
Officials stated that inventory records showed that Natico Pharmacy did not purchase enough of these medications from wholesaler-distributors to fill all the prescriptions billed to Medicare.
“Federal health care programs provide critical health care services to millions of Americans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will hold accountable those who seek to defraud these programs, including by billing for goods or services that they did not provide.”
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability, according to officials.
Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).