The US Department of Justice announced on Thursday a massive nationwide operation leading to the indictment of nearly 200 individuals involved in healthcare fraud schemes, with fraudulent claims exceeding $2.7 billion.
The operation revealed that over the past two weeks 193 individuals, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners and other licensed medical professionals, have been charged in federal courts nationwide. In a sweeping crackdown, authorities have confiscated over $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold and various other assets.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company, if you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable.”
The Justice Department has laid out an array of charges in the stunning crackdown on healthcare fraud. Allegations include an over $900 million scheme involving amniotic wound grafts, the illegal distribution of millions of Adderall pills and other stimulants by five individuals linked to a tech company, corporate executives orchestrating a $90 million fraud involving tainted and mislabeled HIV medication, fraudulent schemes in addiction treatment topping $146 million, extensive telemedicine and lab fraud exceeding $1.1 billion and more than $450 million tied to various other health care fraud and opioid-related schemes.
Two owners of a wound care company, along with two nurse practitioners, allegedly targeted elderly Medicare patients, many of whom were terminally ill, with unnecessary and expensive wound grafts. This scheme was part of a broader strategy to defraud Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans aged 65 and older, through fraudulent claims.
Five individuals linked to digital technology company Done Global Inc. and its affiliate, Done Health P.C., have been charged with the unlawful distribution of millions of Adderall pills. Among them, the CEO and Clinical President of Done were implicated in an internet-based scheme to distribute Adderall and other stimulants and were charged on June 13. Further charges include a Florida nurse practitioner employed by Done, who prescribed over 1.5 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants to patients nationwide.
Thursday’s announcement also unveiled charges against 14 individuals for their roles in the illegal prescription and distribution of opioids, resulting in millions of dollars in fraudulent billings. This group includes several medical professionals who improperly prescribed opioids, Suboxone and other controlled substances.
Additionally, an expansive crackdown involved 126 defendants in various healthcare fraud schemes, which falsely billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers for over $450 million. These charges relate to treatments that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Highlighting the scope of these schemes, ten individuals nationwide have been charged in relation to fraudulent COVID-19 testing practices, including a particularly egregious $65 million scheme in the Southern District of Florida.
