Massachusetts Pharmacist Admits to Defrauding Medicaid and Medicare

September 23, 2010 12:00 pm

Pharmacist Amadiegwu Onujiogu, owner of Codman Square Pharmacy in Dorchester, MA, pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States Government in a Medicaid billing scheme. Onujiogu obtained prescriptions from individuals – most of whom were suffering from chronic disease or psychiatric disorders – billed Medicaid and/or Medicare in order to receive reimbursements for the prescriptions, but never dispensed the medications to the patients. Instead, Onujiogu paid the individuals a small percentage of the reimbursement for their prescriptions, and patients went without their legitimately prescribed medications. A US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts press release indicates that Medicaid paid at least $292,000, and Medicare paid at least $60,000 to Codman Square Pharmacy for the fraudulently billed prescriptions.