Health Care Fraud Blog

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA (May 26, 2011) - State Attorney Michael McAuliffe and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw will co-host Palm Beach County's Prescription Drug Abuse and Pain Clinic Summit. The event takes place today, May 26, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 at the Clayton Hutcheson Agricultural Center.

The summit focuses on prevention of the consequences surrounding addiction and prescription drug dealing before they occur.

This is the summit's second year and since that time the number of pain clinics dealing in the illegal prescription drug trade has dropped significantly; due in part to law enforcement's wide-sweeping raids.

In February of this year, as previously reported here, raids of 11 pain clinics spread from Miami to West Palm Beach netted 23 arrests and more than $2.5 million in cash and vehicles. State Attorney McAuliffe believes that integrating the message of public health with enforcement helps officials refine their philosophy and not focus simply on arresting people.

Healthcare Fraud Blog Publisher, Attorney Robert Malove, is an expert criminal trial lawyer as recognized by The Florida Bar. Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of health care fraud defense.

Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of pill mill defense and represents the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, Florida Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Pain Management, and Florida Society of Neurology and has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statutes regulating the operation of pain clinics, i.e., pill mills.

If you, or someone you know is facing prosecution as a result of aggressive law enforcement activity of pill mills or doctor shopping, make sure you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who is familiar with the issues.

Federal Healthcare Fraud Strike Force teams are currently operating in 9 locations: Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Brooklyn, Tampa, Baton Rouge, Dallas and Chicago.

If you or someone you know is a healthcare provider and in need of serious pill mills, doctor shopping or any healthcare fraud defense, please contact attorney Robert Malove, co-author of the noted treatise, WHITE COLLAR CRIME: HEALTH CARE FRAUD (West)(2010-2011 ed.) to arrange an immediate consultation.

CINCINNATI, OHIO (May 3, 2011) The Oxy Express could be responsible for more deaths than any other drug-related death in the country. It comes as no surprise to local law enforcement then that the doctors who write the most prescriptions of Oxycodone have all practiced in the heart of the Oxycodone supply area, South Florida.

The more than 800 pain clinics in Florida issue 85% of the Oxycodone prescriptions in the country. Addicts climb into vans, cars and buses to make the trip from Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana to get their hands on powerful narcotic painkillers. They'll shoot it, snort it or smoke it, unless they're also dealers and buying for the lucrative resale market.

The DEA says pain clinics can make up to $20,000 in a morning and will even hire armed guards to patrol the clinic parking lot. The DEA makes it clear that it doesn't want to target legitimate doctors issuing legitimate pain prescriptions.

They target doctors who act like drug dealers and write thousands upon thousands of narcotic pain prescriptions per year. In Eastern Ohio where Portsmouth boasts half a dozen pain clinics, Oxycodone is known as "hillbilly heroin."

While the DEA crack down on Florida pain clinics has made some impact in the pipeline, pain clinic owners have gotten wise and started to move their practices to neighboring states. The special agent in charge of the crackdown has a message for those owners, "we probably made [undercover] buys in your clinic and we're probably coming for you at some point in time."

Healthcare Fraud Blog Publisher, Attorney Robert Malove, is an expert criminal trial lawyer as recognized by The Florida Bar. Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of health care fraud defense.

Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of pill mill defense and represents the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, Florida Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Pain Management, and Florida Society of Neurology and has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statutes regulating the operation of pain clinics, i.e., pill mills.

If you, or someone you know is facing prosecution as a result of aggressive law enforcement activity of pill mills or doctor shopping, make sure you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who is familiar with the issues.

Federal Healthcare Fraud Strike Force teams are currently operating in 9 locations: Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Brooklyn, Tampa, Baton Rouge, Dallas and Chicago.

If you or someone you know is a healthcare provider and in need of serious pill mill defense, doctor shopping or any healthcare fraud defense, please contact attorney Robert Malove, co-author of the noted treatise, WHITE COLLAR CRIME: HEALTH CARE FRAUD (West)(2010-2011 ed.) to arrange an immediate consultation.

Healthcare providers have been subjected to increased scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) policing the medical profession’s prescriptive and dispensing policies with respect to Schedule II narcotics, including Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin.

The IOS — Immediate Order of Suspension — is an emergency provision of federal law that permits the Attorney General to suspend a practitioner’s license to dispense narcotics without a hearing or presentation of evidence.

Under 21 U.S.C. §§ 823-824, the DEA has authority to shut down a medical provider’s practice. The IOS imposes a presumption of guilt and places the burden of establishing medical necessity on the practitioner.

Chronic pain is a condition affecting vast numbers of patients nationwide. The DEA largely misunderstands complex set of circumstances regarding the treatment of chronic pain and often times punishes health care providers for the exercise of sound professional medical judgment.

It probably goes without saying that there are unscrupulous health care providers that flaunt the law and properly fall within the scope of the statute’s broad reach. However, when there is direct physician/patient interaction, a medical history, and physical examination, it is reminiscent of Orwell's "Big Brother" and an abuse of government power to conclude as a matter of law that such conduct is intended to skirt federal and state statutes and DEA administrative regulations.

Healthcare providers must be vigilant in properly documenting the need for administration of opioids to patients and attentive to patients’ drug seeking behavior with no evidence to support medical necessity. Otherwise, the vast reach of the DEA may find otherwise ethical and dedicated and law-abiding physicians trapped within the wide net cast upon unscrupulous providers by the government second-guessing proper medical judgment.

Healthcare Fraud Blog Publisher, Attorney Robert Malove, is an expert criminal trial lawyer as recognized by The Florida Bar. Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of pill mill defense. Criminal defense attorney Robert Malove represents the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, Florida Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Pain Management, and Florida Society of Neurology and has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statutes regulating the operation of pain clinics, i.e., pill mills.

If you, or someone you know is facing prosecution as a result of aggressive law enforcement activity targeting pain clinics, i.e., pill mills, make sure you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who is familiar with the issues.

Federal Healthcare Fraud Strike Force teams are currently operating in 9 locations: Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Brooklyn, Tampa, Baton Rouge, Dallas and Chicago.

If you or someone you know is a healthcare provider and in need of serious pill mill defense or healthcare fraud defense, please contact attorney Robert Malove, co-author of the noted treatise, WHITE COLLAR CRIME: HEALTH CARE FRAUD (West)(2010-2011 ed.) to arrange an immediate consultation.

PALM BEACH, FL – Palm Beach County State Attorney Michael McAuliffe announced the arrest and filing of criminal charges against 11 individuals, including five physicians, for a total of 172 counts which include Racketeering (RICO), Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, Trafficking in Oxycodone, Money Laundering, Unlicensed Practice of Health Care Profession and other related criminal charges. The arrests follow a complex multi-agency investigation dubbed OPERATION “PILL NATION” involving roughly 340 undercover buys from doctors and medical personnel in pain clinics throughout a three county South Florida area.

OPERATION "SNAKE OIL” (click here to see an earlier post about this) also carried out the same day as “OPERATION “PILL NATION” is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The OCDETF mission is to identify, investigate, and prosecute high level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement and being prosecuted by the federal authorities.

“Legitimate pain management is a essential part of medical practice,” however “we cannot, and will not, allow medicine to be used by merchants of misery to corrupt the health of individuals and undermine the welfare of whole communities. We are in a continuing crisis, but the tide is turning and today’s enforcement actions provide a clear example of progress,” said State Attorney McAuliffe. To read the State Attorney's Office's Press release in its entirety, click here.

Healthcare Fraud Blog Publisher, Attorney Robert Malove, is an expert criminal trial lawyer as recognized by The Florida Bar. Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of pill mill defense. Criminal defense attorney Robert Malove represents the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, Florida Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Pain Management, and Florida Society of Neurology and has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statutes regulating the operation of pain clinics, i.e., pill mills.

If you, or someone you know is facing prosecution as a result of aggressive law enforcement activity targeting pain clinics, i.e., pill mills, you need to make sure you hire a criminal defense attorney who is familiar with the issues regarding pill mill defense. For serious pill mill defense, throughout South Florida including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, call Florida pill mill defense lawyer and criminal trial law specialist Robert Malove immediately.

TALLAHASSEE, FL- Attorney General Pam Bondi announced comprehensive strategies to combat the epidemic of pill mills in Florida. The Attorney General’s initiative includes a series of legislative recommendations for the upcoming legislative session. Because of the proliferation of pill mills, the Sunshine State leads the nation in diverted pharmaceuticals. The State’s top law enforcement official has made it a top priority to aggressively tackle this crisis.

Key recommendations include:

* Mandatory six-month suspension and $10,000 fine for doctors who violate standards of care when prescribing controlled substances;

* Criminal penalty (third-degree felony) for those who use fraud or misrepresentation to register as a pain clinic;

* Criminal penalty for doctors who fail to perform a physical examination before dispensing 72-hours worth of controlled substances; second-degree misdemeanor for the first offense; first-degree misdemeanor for the second offense; and third-degree felony for the third offense; and

* Requirement that anyone who maintains inventory of controlled substances must report the discovery of any theft of controlled substances to local law enforcement or FDLE within 48 hours; failure to do so will result in administrative penalties and fines.

In addition to these proposals, Attorney General Bondi outlined the need for aggressive administrative enforcement on pain clinics and doctors; increased criminal prosecution through partnerships between the Office of Statewide Prosecution and State Attorneys in high drug-trafficking areas; and long-term prevention strategies such as drug takebacks and drug courts.

“Our state needs a unified effort at every level to eradicate Florida’s pill mills,” said Attorney General Bondi. “We are working with state and local law enforcement, as well as our federal partners, to curtail the dangerous dispensing and abuse of prescription drugs.”

Florida has become the destination for distributors and abusers through the proliferation of pill mills. While the Legislature has already enacted several reforms to address this growing problem, Attorney General Bondi has identified additional provisions that will give law enforcement enhanced tools to investigate and prosecute pill mills and crack down on doctors that engage in drug trafficking.

To read the Pill Mill Legislation & Summary, click here, and here.

Healthcare Fraud Blog Publisher, Attorney Robert Malove, is an expert criminal trial lawyer as recognized by The Florida Bar. Mr. Malove has extensive experience in the area of pill mill defense. Criminal defense attorney Robert Malove represents the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, Florida Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Pain Management, and Florida Society of Neurology and has filed an amicus curiae brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statutes regulating the operation of pain clinics, i.e., pill mills.

If you, or someone you know is facing prosecution as a result of aggressive law enforcement activity targeting pain clinics, i.e., pill mills, you need to make sure you hire a criminal defense attorney who is familiar with pill mill defense. For serious pill mill defense, throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, call Florida pill mill defense lawyer Robert Malove immediately.

Arnesto Segredo, of Miami was sentenced to 70 months in prison for of conspiring to divert the prescription drugs Serostim and Nutropin AQ. Both drugs are human growth hormones (HGH).

The scheme involved Segredo using first and unlicensed company and then a Florida licensed wholesale company to buy and then resell the drugs that were originally purchased by co-conspirators in California from AIDS patients who were prescribed the drugs which were paid for by the California Medicaid program. The use of HGH by AIDS patients is used to prevent what is called “wasting” or the deterioration of muscle. The drugs are also used on the illegal market, by body builders to bulk up muscle mass.

Mr. Segredo wad convicted by a federal jury after going to trial. Going to trial was a pretty brave act given that the prosecutor’s opening statement to the jury likely contained some form of the following: Desperate, poor, dying people sold away the drugs that helped keep them alive so Mr. Segredo could make a profit; oh, and by the way, Medi-Cal paid for those life saving drugs so Mr. Segredo’s lucre also came at the expense of the hard-working taxpayers of California and the United States.

To read more, click: here.