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Federal Indictment Charges 26 Individuals in Large Scale Prescription Fraud Scheme
A federal grand jury indicted 26 individuals, with allegations related to their involvement in a large scale prescription drug and health care fraud scheme associated with multiple pharmacies across Michigan. The 34-count indictment alleges that Babubhai “Bob” Patel, a Canton, MI, pharmacist, and owner of 26 Michigan pharmacies, offered and gave kickbacks, bribes, and other inducements to physicians to write prescriptions for patients with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. These patients were directed to fill their prescriptions at one of Patel’s pharmacies where, according to the indictment, “Patel and his pharmacists would bill insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, for dispensing the medications, despite the fact that the medications were medically unnecessary and/or never provided.” Patients were also recruited into the scheme and given kickbacks and bribes by patient recruiters in exchange for permitting the Patel Pharmacies and the physicians involved to bill their insurers.
The indictment further alleges a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances facilitated through this fraudulent billing scheme. Prescriptions for controlled substance medications including OxyContin®, Vicodin®, and Xanax®, were written outside the course of legitimate medical practice and filled at Patel Pharmacies. Patel and his pharmacists would then dispense the controlled drugs to patients without medical necessity, sometimes as kickbacks to patients and patient recruiters involved in the prescription fraud scheme. “The indictment further alleges that since January of 2009, the Patel Pharmacies have dispensed not less than 250,000 doses of Oxycontin, not less than 4.6 million doses of Vicodin, not less than 1.5 million doses of Xanax, and not less than 6,100 pint bottles of codeine cough syrup.”
Robert L. Corso, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Detroit Field Division stated in a news release, “Confronting the illegal diversion and abuse of controlled pharmaceuticals is a top priority of DEA and our law enforcement partners. Today’s arrests and the allegations in the indictment bring to light one of the largest diversion conspiracies ever uncovered in the state of Michigan. The allegations against these 26 individuals, particularly of the medical professionals, are significant.” Corso stressed that the individuals charged abused their positions of trust and endangered countless lives with the illegal controlled substance distribution scheme. Additional details and the names of the pharmacists, physicians, health care providers, and other individuals charged in the indictment are available in a Federal Bureau of Investigation press release.
