Doctor and Pharmacist Accused in Opioid Kickback Scheme

A Louisville doctor is among the dozens of medical professionals nailed with federal drug charges stemming from a seven-state opioid bust.

31 doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners and seven others who are owners, operators or clinic employees from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Alabama are involved in the bust, which officials said is the largest crackdown of its kind in United States history.

While speaking to media on Wednesday, members of the Appalachian Regional Prescription Strike Force said those involved handed out around 350,000 prescriptions, totaling more than 32 million pills.

A doctor with Bluegrass Pain Consultants in Louisville has been named in the conspiracy. He’s accused of taking bribes and kickbacks from Assured RX, LLC, a pharmaceutical company in Florida. Assured RX, headed by a pharmacist, produced compounded drug products that were prescribed by the doctor and other medical professionals at BPC, according to the doctor’s indictment.

Specifically, BPC prescribed compounded creams for scars, pain and other ailments.

Bluegrass Pain Consultants was established by the doctor  in April 2008, however the conspiracy with Assured RX didn’t begin until November 2014, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors believe the doctor accepted payments from Assured RX in exchange for prescribing compounded drugs to patients, many of whom were on Medicare and Tricare. Assured RX would then submit the claims, resulting in reimbursement.

The indictment says the conspiracy caused Tricare to pay Assured RX $41,611.35 for compounded drug products between November 2014 and July 2015. During that time, the indictment claims the pharmacist, on behalf of Assured RX, paid nearly $226,000 in bribes and kickbacks.