Prescription Drug Fraud in Livonia

Mark Mandell, Esq.

A Livonia doctor and five accomplices were charged last week with running a prescription pain pill fraud scheme.

The indictment alleges that the scheme involved recruiters who would bring patients to Dr. Mohammad Batahney’s office for a “cursory examination or no examination at all.”  Allegedly, the doctor would then write a prescription for Roxicodone, a highly addictive pain pill, and give it to the recruiter. 

The indictment states that the recruiter would then pay the doctor and get the prescriptions filled at a cooperating pharmacy.  After being filled, the recruiter is alleged to have sold the drugs to street dealers in Detroit.

Dr. Batahney is believed to have unlawfully prescribed more than 300,000 doses of Roxicodone from 2011 to April 2013. 

Dr. Batahney and the other five defendants have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances – a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

With prescription drug fraud rising to epidemic levels, Federal prosecutions have dramatically increased.  The crimes charged are severe and the sentences are long.  Having knowledgeable and experienced counsel on your side is a necessity.

If you or someone you know has been charged with fraud, or are concerned that you may be involved in fraudulent behavior, contact experienced fraud attorney Mark Mandell at (248) 380-0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com. 

To read about this latest indictment, please visit:

http://www.freep.com/article/20130422/NEWS02/304220150/Pills-prescription-fraud-Livonia-doctor

Health Care Fraud Indictments

Tariq Hafeez, Esq.

Thirteen individuals from the metro Detroit area have been charged in a large-scale health care fraud and drug distribution scheme, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

The superseding indictment, adds 13 new defendants and new charges to a 2011 indictment, which charged Canton Pharmacist Babubhai ‘Bob” Patel with overseeing a massive health care fraud and drug distribution ring at more than 20 pharmacies that he owned and controlled in metro Detroit.

The 21-count superseding indictment charges with prescription fraud involving 26 Michigan pharmacies. The indictment alleges that the defendants participated in a scheme whereby the owners/controllers of the pharmacies provided kickbacks, bribes, and other illegal benefits to physicians to induce those physicians to write prescriptions for patients with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. The prescriptions be presented to one of the defendants’ pharmacies for billing. In exchange for their kickbacks and inducements, the physicians would write prescriptions for the patients and bill the relevant insurers for services supposedly provided to the patients without regard to the medical necessity of those prescriptions and services. The physicians would direct the patients to fill their prescriptions at one of the defendant owned pharmacies, where defendants would bill insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, for dispensing the medications, despite the fact that the medications were medically unnecessary and, in many cases, never provided. Patients were recruited into the scheme by patient recruiters or “marketers,” who would pay kickbacks and bribes to patients in exchange for the patients’ permitting the defendants’ pharmacies and the defendant physicians to bill their insurance for medications and services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided.

The indictment further alleges a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances at the defendants’  pharmacies to facilitate the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers. According to the indictment, defendants paid physicians kickbacks for prescriptions for controlled substances for their patients and directed those patients to fill the prescriptions at defendants owned/controlled pharmacies. The controlled substances included the Schedule II drug oxycodone (Oxycontin), the Schedule III drug hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab), the Schedule IV drug alprazolam (Xanax), and the Schedule V drug cough syrup with codeine. According to the indictment, prescriptions for these drugs were written outside the course of legitimate medical practice. 

This most recent indictment falls in line with the federal government’s increased investigation and prosecution of health care fraud across the country.  In May 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), making the fight against health care fraud a Cabinet-level position. The Heat task force is focused on nine cities including Detroit.

If you have questions about health care fraud or other legal issues, please contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez at 248.380.0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.

 

Alleged $22 Million Home Health Care Fraud Scheme

Tariq Hafeez, Esq.
 

Detroit-area and Chicago-area residents were arrested on Thursday, January 18, 2013 by federal agents on charges arising from the ongoing investigation into an alleged $22 million home health care fraud scheme. The indictment was announced by the US Attorney’s Office, the FBI Detroit Field Office, and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

 The 18-count indictment names seven individuals who allegedly participated in a Medicare fraud scheme operating out of four Oakland County, Michigan, home health agencies claiming to provide in-home health services. Defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and money laundering allegedly defrauding Medicare/Medicaid of $22 million.

The charges of health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Fausone Bohn LLP attorneys have provided aggressive legal defense counsel to individuals and companies charged with federal health care fraud the firm has been retained by one of the defendants in the above matter.

If you have questions about Medicare or Medicaid fraud, or other legal issues, please contact Mark Mandell or Tariq Hafeez at 248.380.0000 or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.