Healthcarediversion

Two Louisiana pharmacies shut after "unlawfully reckless and negligent dispensing" of drugs without addressing "red flags" of drug diversion.

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

According to the DEA, the pharmacy became the focus of DEA's attention based on data acquired during a larger investigation concerning Morris & Dickson, Co., L.L.C (M&D), a major pharmaceutical distributor in Louisiana. As part of the M&D investigation, it came to DEA's attention that the pharmacy was one of the top purchasers of oxycodone and hydrocodone in the state. Their investigation showed patients who traveled long distances from their home addresses to the pharmacy, and that many patients received the highest available quantity and strength of various opioids. A social media post by Medical Pharmacy, Inc. on 12/24/22, directed customers to Central Pharmacy, on Sullivan road in Baton Rouge, where their prescriptions would be transferred following the early 2023 shut-down. A phone call produced a recorded message that thanked the community for its support over more than 50 years. The executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy tells WBRZ that his office was notified on Dec. 23 that the company’s locations on Church Street and on West Park Drive would cease operations on Jan. 2. He noted that the state board had no disciplinary action in place that would have led to the closures. However, a WBRZ News review of federal records shows that the Drug Enforcement Administration called for the revocation of Medical Pharmacy, Inc.’s Certificate of Registration “because on numerous occasions between October 2016 and September 2019, it repeatedly filled prescriptions without addressing or resolving factual indicia (i.e., ‘‘red flags’’) of potential drug diversion. According to the Government, this constituted unlawfully reckless and negligent dispensing.” The findings were published as “conclusively established in this case.” The Federal Register of Dec. 20, 2021, indicates that applications for renewal of the company's registration should be denied. Medical Pharmacy, Inc., served as a compounding pharmacy – meaning its locations could combine drugs and other ingredients on site to serve patients with certain special needs. Its first location opened in 1968, followed by the second in 2005.

Two Louisiana pharmacies shut after "unlawfully reckless and negligent dispensing" of drugs without addressing "red flags" of drug diversion.

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

RGIS LLC (RGIS) and its affiliated company, Retail Services WIS Corporation (WIS), agreed to pay $158,760 to resolve allegations that they caused violations of the Controlled Substances Act. RGIS and WIS employees were implicated in the theft of controlled substances from pharmacies in upstate New York and throughout the United States. As part of the settlement, RGIS and WIS are changing their policies to require more thorough vetting of employees assigned to inventory pharmacies nationwide. RGIS and WIS provide inventory services to client-retail stores throughout the United States, including retail pharmacies. According to RGIS and WIS policies, only handpicked, high-caliber, well-respected employees are assigned to pharmacy inventory teams and they are required to undergo a drug test and criminal background check. RGIS and WIS maintain a “zero tolerance policy” for theft. Despite these policies, RGIS and WIS employees were implicated in stealing controlled substances from several pharmacies. For example, in July 2017, an RGIS employee stole Vicodin pills while inventorying a retail pharmacy in Schenectady, New York. RGIS terminated the employee but later rehired him. In 2020, that same employee was implicated in stealing narcotics from three pharmacies in Fort Edward, Saratoga, and Glens Falls, New York. RGIS employees were also implicated in stealing narcotics from pharmacies in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Louisiana. In addition, WIS employees were implicated in stealing narcotics from pharmacies in Dallas, Duncanville, and Little Elm, Texas. RGIS and WIS agreed to implement additional procedures to ensure the proper vetting of employees assigned to inventory pharmacies, and to make the results of the vetting available to their pharmacy-clients. The pharmacy-clients, as DEA registrants, are ultimately responsible for supervising all personnel on the premises and preventing the diversion of controlled substances.

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New York retail pharmacy employee who stole oxycodone was previously terminated for stealing Vicodin, then rehired.

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Iowa nursing home director faces felony charge of taking 27 Hydrocodone pills from a resident.

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A 49-year-old Davenport, Iowa woman faces a felony charge of taking drugs from a nursing-home patient, according to arrest affidavits filed in the case. The former nursing home director faces a charge of prohibited acts – first offense – Schedule I, II, III controlled substance, court records say. She is accused of drug diversion, an affidavit says. An affidavit on file in Scott County Court is signed by an investigator for the State of Iowa, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit – Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals. The affidavit alleges the director, on or about July 15, 2022 to Aug. 8, 2022, obtained or tried to obtain a prescription drug by “engaging in fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge. While she was working there, she diverted 27 Hydrocodone pills from a resident, the investigator alleges in the affidavit. Hydrocodone is a powerful opioid used to relieve severe ongoing pain.

Missouri paramedic with two ambulance districts pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing painkilling drugs and replacing the vials with water.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former paramedic with two Northwest Missouri ambulance districts pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to stealing painkilling drugs and replacing the vials with water.

Joseph L. Comstock, 31, of Bethany, Missouri, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to federal information that charges him with three counts of tampering with a consumer product (fentanyl and morphine) with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk.

Comstock admitted that he emptied vials of morphine and fentanyl, taking them for his own personal use and replacing the painkilling drugs with sterilized water. Comstock tampered with the drug vials while working at both the NTA Ambulance District in Bethany and the Community Ambulance District of Daviess County in Gallatin, Missouri, in 2014 and 2015.

Comstock admitted there were at least two occasions where he personally treated patients with drugs he knew he had tampered with. These patients were both hip fracture patients who were supposed to receive fentanyl but instead received sterile water that Comstock had replaced in the vial.

He started tampering with drugs in March 2014, following a medical procedure to remove his tonsils. He accessed drugs on ambulances and was able to bend up the lid of the plastic boxes and dump out the drugs. He obtained both fentanyl and morphine from ambulances and replaced the drugs with sterile water.

Federal officials were notified on March 4, 2015, of possible drug tampering at the NTA Ambulance District in Bethany.

Federal agents installed surveillance equipment at the Bethany NTA building on March 18, 2015. Comstock was recorded on the surveillance video as he stole morphine from the ambulance on two separate occasions.

Comstock also admitted that he tampered with drugs when he visited the Gallatin ambulance building on Feb. 24, 2015. An employee found Comstock (who had stopped working at the Gallatin ambulance company in June 2014) inside the building. Comstock explained he had come by the Gallatin facility to use the treadmill. Later that same day, the employee went on a service call and treated a man suffering from leg pain with 100 mcg of fentanyl.

However, the man did not receive any pain relief. When the employee returned, he examined the narcotics cabinet and found several fentanyl vials with loose caps, as well as morphine that appeared to have been tampered with.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The vast majority of health care professionals are dedicated individuals committed to their patients. But in a recent investigation, we came across a hospital worker who was more committed to his own selfish needs than to his patients—he knowingly put patients at risk of exposure to the hepatitis C virus so he could steal and abuse a powerful narcotic prescribed for use during medical procedures. David Kwiatkowski—who pled guilty to a scheme to divert and obtain the controlled substance fentanyl as well as to product tampering—was sentenced earlier this month to 39 years in prison. Because of Kwiatowski’s actions, at least 45 people became infected with hepatitis C, a virus that attacks the liver and may cause liver damage, liver failure, or cancer. At least one patient died as a result of the infection. You see, Kwiatkowski himself was infected with hepatitis C. And he admitted that while employed at a New Hampshire hospital and at hospitals in several other states, he stole syringes of fentanyl prepared for patients about to undergo medical procedures, injected himself with the drug, and refilled those same syringes with saline—tainting them with his hepatitis C-positive blood—for use on unsuspecting victims. As a trained health care worker, Kwiatkowski would have known that hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral disease, is primarily transmitted by exposure to infected blood. How the case began. In May 2012, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services began a public health investigation after it was notified by an area hospital of four patients newly diagnosed with hepatitis C. Three of the individuals had been patients in the hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (CCL), while the fourth was a CCL employee (Kwiatkowski). Although Kwiatkowski led the hospital to believe he had been previously unaware of his hepatitis C status, the investigation showed that he had known of his infection since at least 2010. Testing confirmed that all four shared a genetically similar virus, indicating a common source of infection. Because Kwiatkowski had previously worked as a traveling technician in multiple hospitals in several states, the information about his activities was shared with those states, which began their own reviews. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coordinated the overall public health investigation, which ruled out other possible methods of transmission and suspected that a drug diversion scheme was the source of the outbreak. During their investigation, public health authorities recommended that more than 12,000 people who may have crossed paths with Kwiatkowski in various hospitals get tested for possible hepatitis C infection. In June 2012, the FBI’s Boston Field Office opened a full criminal investigation into the outbreak…and into Kwiatkowsi. The investigation involved several search warrants and included a search of Kwiatkowski’s vehicle that uncovered needles and syringes. Working with public health agencies along with other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, we gathered evidence and interviewed dozens of people who either worked with Kwiatkowski or were patients at hospitals that employed him. By July 2012, we were able to arrest him. According to New Hampshire U.S. Attorney John Kacavas, the 39-year sentence imposed on Kwiatkowski “ensures that this serial infector will no longer be in a position to harm innocent and vulnerable people, extinguishing once and for all the pernicious threat he posed to public health and safety.”

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kwiatkowsi’s Victims

In addition to one patient whose death was linked to the hepatitis C infection, other individuals infected with Kwiatkowski’s strain of hepatitis C included:

A Marine veteran over the age of 50 who, as a result of his infection, has experienced pain, sleeping and weight loss problems, and trouble controlling his diabetes. He has also been unable to travel, something he used to do extensively for his job.
A male over the age of 70 who has substantial health problems, had to have major surgery, and whose health continues to deteriorate.
A Navy veteran over the age of 80 with serious health problems, including severe fatigue. He is so fearful of transmitting the hepatitis C virus that he won’t kiss his wife.
A retiree over the age of 60 who has experienced fatigue and so much stress that she has had to seek counseling.
An Army veteran over the age of 40 who suffers from fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and emotional issues.
A male over the age of 50 whose health issues are so severe he has been unable to return to work.

South Dakota paramedic stole hundreds of vials of fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone from two ambulance services he worked with.

Sun, 23 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of Obtaining Controlled Substances by Deception was sentenced on August 2, 2021. Michael Brian Whirlwind Soldier, age 47, was sentenced to one month in federal prison, one year of supervised release, a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100, and restitution in the amount of $4,428.98 to the Rosebud Ambulance Service and Crow Creek Ambulance Service. Whirlwind Soldier was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 9, 2020. He pled guilty on August 2, 2021. The conviction stemmed from incidents that occurred between December 17, 2019, and July 28, 2020, in the District of South Dakota, wherein Whirlwind Soldier, while employed as a paramedic with the Rosebud and Crow Creek Ambulance Services, knowingly and intentionally stole hundreds of vials of fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone from the ambulance services. Whirlwind Soldier consumed all of the substances he stole.

South Dakota paramedic stole hundreds of vials of fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone from two ambulance services he worked with.

Sun, 23 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

New Jersey doctor did not conduct physical exams or even see some patients before prescribing hydrochloride, morphine sulfate, and methadone hydrochloride.

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Department of Justice, together with federal and state law enforcement partners, announced criminal charges against 14 defendants in eight federal districts across the United States for their alleged involvement in crimes related to the unlawful distribution of opioids. Twelve of the defendants were medical professionals at the time of these alleged offenses. A New Jersey orthopedic surgeon was charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances. The surgeon and owner of a medical practice in Sicklerville, New Jersey, allegedly issued prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances to patients without assessing them in person or by telemedicine. The complaint also alleges the surgeon falsified patient files to suggest he interacted with a patient on occasions when he, in fact, did not. According to the complaint, the surgeon issued prescriptions that resulted in over 179,000 pills containing oxycodone hydrochloride, morphine sulfate, and methadone hydrochloride being dispensed by New Jersey pharmacies between April 27, 2020, and December 20, 2021.

Kentucky dentist is facing federal charges for distributing oxycodone and morphine sulfate inappropriately which resulted in the death of a patient.

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A Crescent Springs dentist is facing federal charges for allegedly distributing drugs inappropriately which resulted in the death of a patient. The dentist owns the Northern Kentucky Dental Center and practiced dentistry for more than 30 years. He faces four counts of improperly prescribing oxycodone or morphine sulphate and one count of distributing morphine sulphate that led to a death. A 24-year-old woman overdosed and died after the dentist wrote her four opioid prescriptions in a month, three of them in a five-day period, a prosecutor said in a court motion. From August 4, 2020, to Aug. 26, 2020, the dentist allegedly distributed a total of 60 oxycodone pills and 48 morphine sulfate pills to a patient. According to court papers, the prescriptions were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose and "outside the scope of professional practice". A dental expert told federal authorities that in his opinion, the dentist's conduct was “shockingly outside the usual course of professional practice for a dentist,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher M. Jason said in one motion. The dentist, who operates four dental clinics in Northern Kentucky, has pleaded not guilty. The charge of improper prescribing leading to a death carries a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The scheme operated from 2012 until 2020 and involved 38,780 30-milligram oxycodone tablets prescribed illegally, which the assistant principal then sold.

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former assistant principal at an elementary school in Savannah, Georgia, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for her role in the distribution of opioids that involved an Alabama physician. Melodie Donne Armer Cheatham, 38, of Savannah, resigned as interim assistant principal of Otis J. Brock Elementary School on April 11, 2022 the Savannah Morning News reported. Her resignation came eight months after she pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to unlawfully possess oxycodone with intent to distribute and for illegally distributing the prescription drug, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama. In addition to her two-year sentence, Cheatham will have three years of supervised release, WJCL-TV reported. Cheatham was one of 11 people who pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2021, the news release stated. She had been employed by Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools since 2015, WTOC-TV reported. According to court documents, the defendants agreed to obtain illegitimate and unlawful prescriptions for oxycodone prescribed by D’Livro Lemat Beauchamp, a physician in Montgomery, Alabama. The scheme operated from 2012 until April 2020 and prosecutors said the defendants distributed 38,780 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, WSAV-TV reported. Cheatham’s relationship to other defendants in the case was unclear, the Morning News reported. Investigators said that in many cases, the prescriptions were coordinated through a third party and the defendants would never go see the doctor, WSB-TV reported. Beauchamp pleaded guilty to the same offense as the 11 defendants on Oct. 20, 2020, prosecutors said in a news release. In a statement, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools officials said they were “deeply disappointed” in Cheatham’s behavior. “This individual is no longer employed with the school district. During the time that Melodie Cheatham was employed with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, she had no employee infractions and there is no information to support that any of the actions with which she is charged took place in our school setting,” the statement said. “District employees are held to high standards and we expect further actions may be taken by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. We are deeply disappointed in this behavior and do not condone any actions that place the students or staff of our district at risk.”

$112 million fraud scheme in Florida included paying kickbacks to patients through recruiters and receiving kickbacks from testing laboratories.

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Two brothers who operated multiple South Florida addiction treatment facilities were sentenced to prison March 18, 2022,for a $112 million addiction treatment fraud scheme that included paying kickbacks to patients through patient recruiters and receiving kickbacks from testing laboratories. Jonathan Markovich, 37, and his brother, Daniel Markovich, 33, both of Bal Harbour, were sentenced in the Southern District of Florida to 188 months and 97 months in prison, respectively. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the defendants conspired to unlawfully bill for approximately $112 million of addiction treatment services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided, which were procured through illegal kickbacks at two addiction treatment facilities, Second Chance Detox LLC, dba Compass Detox (Compass Detox), an inpatient detox and residential facility, and WAR Network LLC (WAR), a related outpatient treatment program. The defendants obtained patients through patient recruiters who offered illegal kickbacks to patients, including free airline tickets, illegal drugs, and cash payments. The defendants shuffled a core group of patients between Compass Detox and WAR in a cycle of admissions and re-admissions to fraudulently bill for as much as possible. Patient recruiters gave patients illegal drugs prior to admission to Compass Detox to ensure admittance for detox, which was the most expensive kind of addiction treatment offered by the defendants’ facilities. In addition, therapy sessions were billed for but not regularly provided or attended, and excessive, medically unnecessary urinalysis drug tests were ordered, billed for, and paid. Compass Detox patients were given a so-called “Comfort Drink” to sedate them, and to keep them coming back. Patients were also given large and potentially harmful amounts of controlled substances, in addition to the “Comfort Drink,” to keep them compliant and docile, and to ensure they stayed at the facility. “To manipulate and exploit patients seeking help in their most vulnerable state is unacceptable,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “These individuals orchestrated a scheme that sought profits over the well-being of patients, and they will be held accountable for their actions. With the help of our law enforcement partners, the FBI continues to investigate, bring down these criminal enterprises, and protect our citizens.” After a seven-week trial in November 2021, both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Jonathan Markovich was convicted of eight counts of health care fraud and Daniel Markovich was convicted of two counts of health care fraud. They were also both convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and two counts of paying and receiving kickbacks. Jonathan Markovich was separately convicted of conspiring to commit money laundering, two counts of concealment money laundering, and six counts of laundering at least $10,000 in proceeds of unlawful activities. He was also convicted of two counts of bank fraud related to fraudulently obtaining PPP loans for both Compass Detox and WAR during the COVID-19 pandemic.

$112 million fraud scheme in Florida included paying kickbacks to patients through recruiters and receiving kickbacks from testing laboratories.

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Dentist gave his credentials to an office staff member who obtained oxycodone for personal use. The dentist was fined and surrendered their DEA registration.

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Omar Guesmia, of Phoenix, New York will pay $60,000 to resolve allegations that he, and his dentistry practice, “Gentle Dental Care,” violated the Controlled Substances Act by enabling an office staff member to use an electronic prescription system to obtain oxycodone for their own use. The announcement was made by Carla B. Freedman, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York and Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division. Physicians generally send prescriptions to pharmacies using an electronic prescription system that can only be accessed using a password or other token, ensuring that only authorized persons transmit prescriptions to a pharmacy. Federal and New York State law prohibit practitioners from sharing their prescribing credentials with others and provide that physicians are responsible for all prescriptions written under their credentials. Dr. Guesmia gave his credentials to an office staff member, who transmitted oxycodone prescriptions to various pharmacies, then retrieved the prescriptions for their own illegitimate use. As part of the civil settlement, Dr. Guesmia admitted that he failed to monitor the prescriptions written using his credentials. “The authority to prescribe controlled substances comes with great responsibility,” said United States Attorney Freedman. “I encourage all medical providers who have a prescription pad or credentials to safeguard access and vigilantly monitor their use through resources like New York State’s Prescription Monitoring Program, also known as I-STOP.” Dr. Guesmia surrendered his DEA Registration, and as part of the civil settlement agreement, agreed not to seek a renewal for at least five years.

Delaware man pleads guilty to COVID-19 drug fraud scheme that roped in pharmacies in Tennessee and a Veteran Affairs Medical Center in New York.

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A Delaware man is facing five years in federal prison for a COVID-19 drug fraud scheme that roped in pharmacies in Etowah and Maryville, authorities said. Jose Torres, 58, of Shelbyville, Delaware, pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs. in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Torres faces a term of up to five years, $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release and is set to be sentenced March 29, according to the in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. “This plea agreement represents the commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecuting those who exploited the fears of others to unlawfully profit during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. Torres conspired to buy drugs that were in short supply and sell them to wholesale distributors at a hefty profit, according to the complaint filed against him. Torres worked with a California-based company that recruited independent retail pharmacies to join a network referred to as the Pipe-Line Program. Independent pharmacies in Etowah and Maryville, which were not named in the complaint, joined the Pipe-Line program, which was described as a partnership meant to help fill voids in the supply chain of medications. This allowed Torres to buy drugs from the pharmacies' authorized distributors, paying the pharmacies a commission of as much as 23%. The pharmacies were led to believe this was a valid program and they were legally allowed to wholesale up to 5% of their annual gross sales, according to the federal complaint. The most egregious fraud came after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Torres purchased hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets from a Maryville pharmacy for $178 per unit and resold them to a Veterans Affairs medical center for $442 per unit, according to the complaint. Torres' fraudulent purchase came as the epidemic was beginning to inundate health care systems and an unvetted medical study suggested hydroxychloroquine could help patients, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. At the start of the pandemic, then-President Donald Trump authorized the U.S. government to purchase and stockpile 29 million pills of hydroxychloroquine for use by patients with COVID-19. The FDA subsequently revoked its authorization for the use of the drug by mid-June 2020. Howard H. Baker, Jr. United States Courthouse in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Torres used an Etowah pharmacy to buy epinephrine at $63 a unit and resold it at a 120% markup, the complaint stated. The drug is used for emergency treatment of severe allergic reactions. The man later purchased amiodarone, a heart medication, from the same pharmacy for $42 a unit and resold it to a Veterans Affairs medical center for nearly three times the purchase price. Similarly, he purchased famotidine, an antacid, from a Maryville pharmacy and resold it for a profit of $60 per unit. According to the federal indictment, Torres personally profited to the tune of nearly $120,000 from those four transactions, an amount he has agreed to repay.

Florida pharmacy fined $1.31 million for submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for Evzio, a high-priced drug used in rapid reversal of opioid overdoses.

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Florida-based Solera Specialty Pharmacy has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay a $1.31 million civil settlement to resolve allegations that it submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for Evzio, a high-priced drug used in rapid reversal of opioid overdoses. According to Solera’s admissions in the criminal and civil agreements, the pharmacy dispensed Evzio from January 2017 to May 2018. During that time, Evzio was the highest-priced version of naloxone on the market and insurers frequently required the submission of prior authorization requests before they would approve coverage for Evzio. Solera completed Evzio prior authorizations forms in place of the prescribing physicians, including instances in which Solera staff signed the forms without the physician’s authorization and listed Solera’s contact information as if it were the physician’s information. In addition, Solera submitted Evzio prior authorization requests that contained false clinical information to secure approval for the expensive drug. Finally, Solera waived Medicare beneficiary co-payment obligations for Evzio on numerous occasions without analyzing whether the patient had a genuine financial hardship. Solera entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in connection with a criminal information charging the pharmacy with one count of health care fraud. Solera and its CEO, Nicholas Saraniti, also entered into a civil settlement agreement and will pay the government $1.31 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act. In connection with the settlements, Solera and Saraniti entered into a three-year integrity agreement (IA) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The IA requires, among other things, Solera implement measures designed to ensure that its submission of claims for pharmaceutical products complies with applicable law relating to prior authorizations and collection of beneficiary co-payment obligations. In addition, the IA requires reviews by an independent review organization. The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Rebecca Socol, a former employee of kaléo Inc., the manufacturer of Evzio. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. As part of this resolution, Ms. Socol will receive $262,000 of the settlement amount. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Socol v. Solera Specialty Pharmacy LLC., 18-cv010050-RGS (D. Mass.) (under seal). In 2021, the department announced settlements with kaléo for $12.7 million and with other pharmacies for $1 million relating to the submission of false claims for Evzio.

Massachusetts veterinarian improperly stored controlled substances at his office and residence, and ordered controlled substances without a DEA registration.

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A Dedham, Massachusetts veterinarian has agreed to resolve allegations that he maintained inadequate records of controlled substances, improperly stored controlled substances at his office and residence, ordered controlled substances without a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration, and failed to report he was on probation on his DEA registration forms. Wilbur M. Salter, II D.V.M., a veterinarian who practices at Animed Pet Hospital in Dedham, has agreed to pay $15,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the civil remedies provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The CSA was enacted to prevent the diversion or misuse of controlled substances and requires complete and accurate recordkeeping by medical professionals—including veterinarians—and others involved in the distribution and administration of controlled substances. According to the settlement agreement, Dr. Salter admitted that he did not furnish required records with respect to Euthanasia Solution, Ketamine, Diazepam 5mg, Hydrocodone liquid, and Diazepam 1mg in connection with a 2019 DEA audit of controlled substances at his practice. As a result, the investigators found CSA violations with respect to these controlled substances. Dr. Salter also admitted that he stored controlled substances at his residence, but did not register his residence with the DEA; improperly stored Tramadol, a controlled substance, in an unlocked cabinet; ordered a schedule IV controlled substance after he no longer held a DEA registration; and did not report that the Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine had placed him on probation on his subsequent DEA registration forms, as required. “It is essential that all prescribers—including veterinarians—keep accurate records of controlled substances so that we can identify and prevent any diversion, especially in the midst of a rampant and destructive opioid epidemic,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “We will enforce compliance of these important safeguards.” “The DEA is committed to ensuring that all registrants are in compliance with the required regulations, which are enforceable through the Controlled Substances Act,” said Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA, Boston Division. “Failure to do so increases the potential for diversion and jeopardizes public health and public safety. DEA pledges to work with our law enforcement and regulatory partners to ensure these rules and regulations are followed.” During the investigation, Dr. Salter surrendered his DEA registration number and, as part of the settlement, agreed that he would not seek a new DEA registration number. U.S Attorney Rollins and DEA SAC Boyle made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head of Rollins’ Civil Division handled the case.

Federal agents raided Miami-area pharmacy after investigators uncovered evidence the establishment might be operating the largest opioid pill mill in Florida.

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Federal law enforcement agents raided a Miami-area pharmacy on Tuesday after investigators uncovered evidence the establishment might be operating the largest opioid pill mill in Florida, according to a source familiar with the investigation. A videographer and a Reuters photographer on Tuesday witnessed more than a dozen federal agents, including agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general's office, executing a search warrant at Healthplus Pharmacy in Miramar, Florida. FBI agents were also involved in Tuesday's search, the source told Reuters. The pharmacy, which has been in business since at least 2006, according to HHS records, marks the latest target in the Justice Department's ongoing efforts to crack down on the illegal diversion of prescription painkillers, which have helped fuel the nation's opioid epidemic. The U.S. opioid crisis has caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths over the past two decades, including more than 80,000 in 2021 alone, according to government data. The court-approved search warrant for Healthplus was obtained based on probable cause that the pharmacy is running the largest pill mill in the state for Oxycontin, a highly addictive painkiller, the source told Reuters, speaking anonymously because the investigation is still not public. A pill mill is a reference to an illegal operation, such as a pharmacy or doctor's office, that regularly prescribes prescriptions for inappropriate or non-medical reasons. Investigators believe at least some of the prescriptions at issue in the probe have been routed through Healthplus by doctors who are not really treating the patients and that the pills are then diverted to the streets, the person said. The source said the pharmacy works with several wholesalers to get its supply of pills, which are believed to be authentic versions of the drug, including one in Florida as well as several others in different states. In recent years the Justice Department has aggressively pursued efforts to prosecute medical professionals to combat opioid prescription abuses, and it has created several strike forces to target illegal prescriptions. State and federal public records show Healthplus Pharmacy is owned or run by Eghosa Uhunmwango and Richard Osaiyuwu. Earlier in the morning on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses saw law enforcement agents also execute search warrants at both their publicly-listed addresses in Miramar. Neither man could be reached for comment.

Denver paramedic indicted on charges of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining fentanyl by deceit.

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former Denver Health paramedic was indicted by a grand jury after being accused of stealing 50 vials of fentanyl and tampering with another 20 over the last four years. The paramedic is facing 20 counts of tampering with a consumer product and 38 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by deception. During his employment with Denver Health, the paramedic allegedly stole 50 vials containing 5,000 micrograms of fentanyl between Nov. 5, 2018, and Jan. 12, 2022, claiming the drug was for patient use but kept them for himself, the indictment said. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced on August 22, 2022, that the paramedic was been indicted on charges of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit. According to the indictment, between November 8, 2021, and January 13, 2022, the defendant, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk, tampered with fentanyl, by removing fentanyl from 20 vials and replacing it with another substance. The indictment also states between November 5, 2018 and January 12, 2022, the defendant obtained fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, and subterfuge, by misrepresenting that a vial or vials of fentanyl were used for a patient, when in fact the defendant acquired and obtained the fentanyl for himself. “In January 2022, Denver Health became aware of a possible drug theft involving a Denver Health paramedic. We immediately notified the proper authorities and conducted an internal investigation. At the conclusion of our investigation, the paramedic was terminated,” a statement from Denver Health said. Denver Health said in a statement that it was made aware in January of the potential theft and pending charges and immediately launched an investigation. The paramedic was fired after authorities completed the internal investigation. “Our internal investigation found that no patients were harmed, and no patients went without medication because of the individual’s actions. While we had internal safeguards in place prior to this incident, we have enhanced protocols regarding control of opioids,” Denver Health’s statement said.

Alabama supervisory paramedic tampered with approximately 129 vials of fentanyl citrate, replacing diverted fentanyl with saline.

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On February 8, 2021, federal judge sentenced a supervisory paramedic for theft of fentanyl from a local ambulance service, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Special Agent in Charge Justin C. Fielder, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office. U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor sentenced Michael Greenhaw, 43, of Arab, to 51 months in prison. Greenhaw pleaded guilty to on one-count of tampering with a consumer product in October 2019. “Greenhaw put vulnerable patients in grave danger by replacing fentanyl citrate with saline in vials that he knew were intended to be administered to critically ill or injured patients,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona. “Greenhaw’s criminal conduct undermines the tireless efforts of first responders who work hard to make sure that patients receive the necessary emergency medical care.” “The FDA is fully committed to the vigorous criminal prosecution of any individual who threatens the safety and security of the U.S. drug supply and compromises patient health and comfort,” said Justin C. Fielder, Special Agent in Charge, FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations’ Miami Field Office. “The sentencing in this case should send a clear signal that this kind of illicit tampering activity will not be tolerated.” According to the plea agreement, Greenhaw tampered with approximately 129 vials of fentanyl citrate from April 2018 through August 2018, while employed as a supervisory paramedic at First Response Ambulance Service in Decatur, Alabama. Greenhaw had access to the narcotics vault where the fentanyl was stored. During his shift, Greenhaw removed fentanyl citrate from vials using a syringe and replaced the fentanyl with saline. The vials filled with saline were placed back into the narcotics safe. Greenhaw stole the fentanyl for personal use. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office investigated the case, along with the Decatur Police Department and Arab Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Stuart Burrell prosecuted the case.

Home caregiver turned herself in to narcotics agents after an investigation showed she switched oxycodone-acetaminophen pills meant for patients with Tylenol.

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A home caregiver is charged in Altoona after state narcotics investigators say she took pain pills prescribed for her client and replaced them with over-the-counter Tylenol.

A former EMT paramedic pleads guilty of tampering with liquid fentanyl vials at the ambulance company at which she worked.

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former Massachusetts emergency medical technician (EMT) paramedic has pleaded guilty to tampering with liquid fentanyl vials at the ambulance company at which she worked. Candice Mangan, 43, of Medford, pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2022 in federal court in Boston to one count of tampering with a consumer product. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Dec. 7, 2022. Mangan was charged on June 24, 2022. From approximately March 2020 to early October 2020, Mangan – a licensed EMT paramedic in Massachusetts – worked part-time as an EMT for an ambulance service company in Massachusetts. On or about Sept. 30, 2020, while working in Needham, Mangan tampered with three fentanyl citrate vials by removing fentanyl citrate and replacing it with saline. The liquid remaining in the three vials contained only approximately 4.4%, 6.8%, and 24.2% of the declared concentration of fentanyl citrate. “The grave consequences of the opioid crisis extend far beyond street level dealing of heroin and fentanyl, which continues at an alarming pace. Almost every one of the 15 units in the Criminal and Civil Divisions of this Office are handling matters relating to the opioid epidemic,” said United States Attorney Rachael Rollins. “Aside from the obvious opioid related matters handled by our narcotics and organized crime units, we are also prosecuting human trafficking and health care fraud as well as civil rights government fraud and public corruption cases all directly pertaining to opioids. There is no higher priority in my office than doing everything in our power, using every option available on both the civil and criminal sides of this office, to keep people and communities safe from these deadly destructive substances.” “The FDA oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with medicines put patients’ health at risk,” said Fernando P. McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office. “We will continue to protect the public health and bring to justice health care professionals who take advantage of their unique position and compromise their patients’ health and comfort by tampering with needed drugs.” The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences in a criminal case are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. U.S. Attorney Rollins, FDA SAC McMillan and Margret R. Cooke, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Locker of Rollins’ Health Care Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The veterinarian pleaded guilty to adulteration of a drug and distribution of a controlled substance without a written prescription.

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former veterinarian, who admitted to stealing opioids, was sentenced today to eight months in federal prison. Patrick Gries, 54, of Madison Heights, Virginia, pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of adulteration of a drug held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce and one count of distribution of a controlled substance without a written prescription. “When health care professionals put the well-being of others at risk, they violate the trust placed in them by the public and will be held accountable. My Office will continue to prioritize these cases throughout the Western District of Virginia,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said on June 22, 2022. “Health care professionals, including veterinarians, who take needed medications from their patients not only harm the patients but also put at risk the trust that consumers have in those who provide medical care to their companion animals,” said Special Agent in Charge George Scavdis, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations - Metro Washington Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who put the safety and health of pets at risk by tampering with their patients’ medications.” According to court documents, from 1994 through 2021, Gries practiced as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at VCA Amherst Animal Hospital in Amherst County, Virginia. The animal hospital maintained supplies of Dilaudid, an opioid generically known as hydromorphone, primarily for use in treating pain in animal patients following surgeries. As the hospital’s primary surgeon, Gries had full access to the hospital’s supply of hydromorphone and began withdrawing a portion of the highly addictive drug from the vials and injecting it into himself. He would replace the stolen hydromorphone with another substance, usually either saline or butorphanol, and then return the altered narcotic back to the hospital inventory. The Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration - Diversion Control Division, and the Virginia State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Baudinet prosecuted the case.

Animal hospital office manager prescribed herself more than 10G dog cough pills containing an opioid drug.

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A West Barnstable woman was sentenced on June 15, 2022 in federal court in Boston in connection with stealing hydrocodone, an opioid and Schedule II controlled substance, from the veterinary office where she worked. Melissa Paradise, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to time served (approximately one day in prison) and one year of supervised release. On Feb. 10, 2022, Paradise pleaded guilty to six counts of acquiring a controlled substance using a registration number assigned to another person and eight counts of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge. In late 2018 and 2019, federal investigators noted that an unusually large amount of hydrocodone had been ordered by the veterinary office. In June 2019, the investigators conducted an audit at the animal hospital during which Paradise was identified as the office manager responsible for record keeping regarding prescriptions. Upon her arrival at the office on the day of the audit, Paradise admitted to investigators that she used the DEA registration number assigned to a veterinarian in the practice without the veterinarian’s knowledge or consent to order controlled substances which she then stole for her personal use. Paradise also admitted that she forged the signature of a second veterinarian on other prescription documents and diverted those drugs for her own use. The second veterinarian later confirmed that the signature on the documents was forged. United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Barnstable Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pellegrini of Rollins’ Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

Police department investigates health aide who allegedly stole a student's Adderall and swapped it for Claritin.

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On May 27, local father Brett Byrnes, a former military officer, walked through the front green doors of Doorway 1 at his second grade daughter’s elementary school, Greenbriar East. The school nurse had just called to say she was out of his second-grade daughter’s dosage of Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. What the Byrnes uncovered was any parent’s nightmare: possibly for months, the school’s health aide, Jennifer Carpenter, had allegedly stolen their daughter’s Adderall – a stimulant – and given her Claritin, an over-the-counter medicine used for allergies. Their daughter wasn’t alone: under the eye of school officials at their neighborhood school, where the mascot is the Roadrunner, Carpenter had allegedly stolen medicine from six other children. In a June 7 letter, addressed to “Parents” of the seven children impacted, Robin Wallin, director of the Fairfax County Health Department’s school health division said the FCPD and Child Protective Services “have active investigations into the diversion of medication that affected your student.” In response to a public records request, the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) said that it started an investigation, case number 2022-1470199, on May 27 related to “Embezzlement.” Under “General Property Reported Stolen,” police say, “Medicine.” But two weeks later, Fairfax County Public Schools hasn’t yet notified school or school district parents of this alleged crime. “It’s truly criminal that medicine has been stolen from children. This is a systemic problem,” Byrnes said. “They can’t even find the audit documentation,” said the mother of a fourth grader, 10, whose Ritalin, also used for ADHD, was allegedly stolen. “It seems the school is covering up their failures.” In a statement to the Fairfax Times, Wallin confirmed the scandal, stating, “It came to the Health Department’s attention on Friday, May 27 that there was a discrepancy in a medication for a student at Greenbriar East Elementary School. The Health Department responded immediately and began an internal investigation. A report was made to the Fairfax County Police Department that evening and the investigation is ongoing. The Health Department notified parents and guardians of the seven affected students immediately upon determining the scope of the problem. The employee was placed on administrative leave, with the Health Department moving to terminate their employment with the county.” This “discrepancy” is important because it reflects the growing frustration of parents trying to advocate for the safety of their children, only to be dismissed, demonized as engaging in “domestic terrorism” and even handcuffed, from Uvalde, Tex., to Loudoun County, Va. Asked why the school system hasn’t notified school or school district parents, FCPS spokeswoman Helen Lloyd said, “As these staff are hired by the FCHD, you need to direct your questions through them.” Carpenter had an out-of-office response (from 2019) on her official school email address. She couldn’t be reached at various phone numbers listed in the area for her name. At 6 p.m, on May 31, the second grader’s parents got a letter from Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, the Fairfax County health director, notifying them that health department officials had learned there was a “discrepancy in medication” because a health department employee had been “diverting” medication “belonging to students.” Then a shocker, “...we have reason to believe that the employee may have on occasion given your child a generic over the counter

Surgical tech who exposed thousands across four states to hepatitis and HIV sentenced to more than 6 years for drug theft.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Washington state health officials are demanding changes at Seattle’s Northwest Hospital & Medical Center after the institution failed to investigate and report possible drug diversion by a former surgical technologist who now faces federal criminal charges for drug theft, possibly exposing patients to infection. Rocky Allen, 28, is awaiting trial after he was charged in Colorado with stealing a syringe of the powerful narcotic fentanyl at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo. Subsequent investigations revealed Allen faced similar allegations in three other states, including Washington. Nearly 1,500 patients who had surgery at two Washington hospitals where Allen worked in 2011 and 2012 were warned earlier this year to be tested for possible infection with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infection because of concerns about needle-swapping. Allen worked at Northwest Hospital during that period, but officials failed to properly report that he was fired in March 2012 for touching a syringe of Propofol, a powerful anesthetic, on an operating-room cart. He previously had been told not to linger near the anesthesia cart. That’s according to a statement of deficiencies issued Thursday by the Washington State Department of Health. State regulations require prompt reporting when a credentialed health-care worker is suspected of committing unprofessional conduct, such as drug diversion, and no such report was filed, state health officials said in a news release. “The investigation could not confirm conclusively whether Allen actually diverted drugs while at this hospital or if his drug-related misconduct infected patients,” health-department officials said in a statement. The risk of potential exposure or infection is very low, however, the agency said. Officials with Northwest, which is run by UW Medicine, said they were reviewing the state’s report and will respond. State officials declined further comment because the health department is involved in lawsuits involving Allen, a spokeswoman said. Northwest has 10 days to develop and submit a plan to prevent similar lapses. If the plan or its implementation falls short, the state can take enforcement action, officials said. At least four people, including three former patients, have said they will sue Northwest for causing emotional distress and bodily harm by hiring Allen. Allen also worked at Lakewood Surgery Center in Lakewood, Pierce County, and at Naval Hospital Bremerton. A separate state investigation at Lakewood revealed no evidence of any suspicions that would require a report, officials said. Allen was indicted in February and charged with stealing a syringe of fentanyl and replacing it with another substance. He later tested positive for fentanyl and marijuana, federal court records show. In addition, Allen has tested positive for a bloodborne pathogen, though officials haven’t identified it. His actions put nearly 3,000 patients at the Colorado hospital at potential risk from needle swapping and raised questions about his actions at previous jobs. Allen was also accused of or fired for diverting drugs at hospitals in California and Arizona. Allen was dismissed from the military in part because of drug-diversion issues, state health officials said. He failed to truthfully answer questions about his criminal and disciplinary history when he applied for a Washington state surgical technologist credential in 2011. Checks by the Washington State Patrol and of the National Practitioner Data Bank also failed to reveal any past problems, state officials said. Allen’s Washington credential expired in 2012. He tried to reapply for a credential in February, but based on the Colorado allegations, state officials denied the request and indefinitely suspended his right to practice in Washington.

Surgical tech who exposed thousands across four states to hepatitis and HIV sentenced to more than 6 years for drug theft.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Denver surgery technician who infected three dozen and exposed thousands while stealing Fentanyl has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Kristen Parker, a former Rose Medical Center surgery “scrub” technician, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver. Parker, age 26, of Elizabeth, Colorado, was named in a 42 count indictment charging product tampering and obtaining controlled substances by deceit. She remains in federal custody, being held without bond pending a resolution of her case. Kristen Parker was originally charged in a three count Criminal Complaint in U.S. District Court in Denver on July 2, 2009. She made her initial appearance in federal court on July 6, 2009, where she was advised of the charges pending against her. On July 9, 2009, Parker waived her right to a preliminary hearing. She did, however, contest her detention. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer found at that hearing that Parker was a danger to the community. He ordered her held without bond. Parker was a surgery “scrub” technician at Rose Medical Center in Denver and then at Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, where she assisted in surgical procedures. She had Hepatitis C while she worked at both facilities. Parker is accused of stealing a powerful narcotic drug, Fentanyl, from surgical patients. She would inject herself with a syringe containing the narcotic. She would then fill the same dirty syringe with saline and put it back on the surgical tray. Patients who needed the pain medication during surgery did not receive it. What they did receive, however, was exposure to Parker’s Hepatitis C. To date 19 patients at Rose Medical Center have tested positive for Hepatitis C that can be linked back to Parker. The indictment charges Parker with 21 counts of tampering with a consumer product and 21 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by deceit, or attempt. All of the indicted conducts relates to when Parker worked for Rose Medical Center. None of the charged conduct involves Audubon, although testing is only halfway complete at both places, and additional charges via superseding indictments are possible. According to the indictment, between October 22, 2008, through April 15, 2009, Parker, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk, tampered and attempted to tamper with consumer products, namely the removal of Fentanyl from a syringe, and replacing it with other substances. Further, the indictment alleges that she knowingly and intentionally obtained, and attempted to obtain, Fentanyl by deceit. Parker faces not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine for each count of tampering with a consumer product. If serious bodily injury occurred, she would face not more than 20 years in federal prison. If death of an individual occurs, she would face up to life imprisonment. If convicted of obtaining a controlled substance by deceit, or attempting to do the same, Parker faces not more than 4 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine for each count. Parker, who worked at Rose Medical Center in Denver and Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, was told her first week at Rose — after a pre-employment screening — that she probably had the disease. Still, Parker stole fentanyl laid out in operating rooms in preparation for surgery. She injected herself with the painkiller up to two or three times a day for several months, refilling the syringes with water or saline solution for patients. To date, tests have confirmed at least 18 people who had surgery at Rose contracted the potentially deadly liver disease from Parker. Eight additional people also are presumed to have the disease because of her drug theft. “I know everyone is waiting for me to answer the million-dollar question: why?” Parker said in court, pausing often to wipe tears. “I won’t sugarcoat it. I was a drug addict. “I am certainly not looking for pity or sympathy. There is no doubt in my mind where I deserve to be: jail. It’s time to reap what I have sown.” Several of the victims, as well as Parker’s boyfriend, also blamed the hospital. “It’s Rose’s negligence, and they should be sitting right here next to Kristen Parker for her sentencing,” said Michael Moody, Parker’s “significant other.” “The criminal here should be Rose Medical Center.” Rose released a statement later, saying the hospital has improved policies to protect narcotics.

Denver surgery technician who infected three dozen and exposed thousands while stealing Fentanyl has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Denver surgery technician who infected three dozen and exposed thousands while stealing Fentanyl has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A firefighter has agreed to plead guilty in connection with conspiring to distribute controlled substances including oxycodone, suboxone, Klonopin and Adderall.

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former firefighter has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with conspiring to distribute controlled substances including oxycodone, suboxone, Klonopin and Adderall. Joshua Eisnor, 43, of North Reading, was charged by an Information with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Eisnor is scheduled to plead guilty on June 23, 2022. According to the charging document, while working as a firefighter at the Malden Fire Department, Eisnor distributed controlled substances to other members of the Malden Fire Department. Sentences in a criminal case are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to a $500,000. United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Brian McClune, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office; and Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office, made the announcement today. Special assistance was provided by the Merrimack Valley Transnational Organized Crime Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugenia M. Carris, Deputy Chief of Rollins’ Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, and Howard Locker, of Rollins’ Health Care Fraud Unit, are prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

A Michigan pharmacy has agreed to pay $1.5M and enter into a 3-year Memorandum of Agreement to resolve allegations it violated the Controlled Substances Act.

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Sixth Street Drugs, Inc., a Munson Healthcare subsidiary located in Traverse City, Michigan, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the United States and enter into a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by filling numerous prescriptions for controlled substances despite red flags that the prescriptions were not valid. Under the CSA and DEA regulations, for a prescription to be effective, it must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of his professional practice. Pharmacies and pharmacists have a responsibility not to fill an invalid prescription and are prohibited from dispensing pursuant to an invalid prescription. When the circumstances around a prescription raise a red flag—a reasonable suspicion that the prescription is not valid—the pharmacist must conduct a further inquiry to ensure the prescription is valid. The CSA provides significant penalties, currently up to $72,683.00 for each such violation. The government began investigating Sixth Street Drugs based on information that it was an outlier in a number of categories relating to schedule II controlled substances, including its quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and amphetamine. Following an administrative inspection in 2019, DEA alleged that Sixth Street Drugs failed to identify and resolve numerous red flags before filling prescriptions. Among other things, DEA contended that Sixth Street Drugs:

filled hundreds of prescriptions that resulted in patients receiving dangerous drug cocktails (such as opioids with benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, and/or stimulants);
filled prescriptions that resulted in patients receiving extraordinarily high opioid doses that far exceeded federal dosage guidance;
filled prescriptions for hundreds of individuals who were traveling long distances to receive prescriptions and to fill them at Sixth Street Drugs;
filled prescriptions for many patients who had prescriptions from numerous prescribers and used multiple pharmacies (physician-shopper and pharmacy-shopper patients);
filled prescriptions for patients of several providers who issued suspicious prescriptions and have since been sanctioned by state and federal authorities; provided early refills of opioid prescriptions on hundreds of occasions; and lacked appropriate written policies and procedures relating to dispensing controlled substances.

As part of the settlement, Sixth Street Drugs entered into a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with DEA that, among other things, prescribes Sixth Street Drugs’ drug-handling responsibilities, mandates external controlled substance audits, and requires Sixth Street Drugs to institute a broad-based educational program focused on preventing drug diversion. In reaching this settlement, the government recognized the substantial steps Munson Healthcare took in response to DEA’s investigation to address problems relating to Sixth Street Drugs’ handling of controlled substances. “Prescription drug abuse and diversion—and the overprescribing that often enables them—have caused tremendous damage throughout the Western District of Michigan,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “My office will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who fail to live up to their legal responsibilities and contribute to this crisis, including pharmacies and physicians.” Kent R. Kleinschmidt, DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Detroit Field Division, stated, “careless behavior and negligence allow for substances to be diverted and sold on the black market with no measure of accountability. This is the type of reckless behavior that fuels the opioid epidemic gripping the nation. DEA is committed to pursuing anyone who doesn’t live up to their obligations in safeguarding controlled substances.” The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan and the DEA. The case was investigated by the DEA Grand Rapids District Office Tactical Diversion Squad. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Cobb.

Kansas City paramedic pleaded guilty to obtaining fentanyl and morphine by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge.

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department paramedic pleaded guilty in federal court today to stealing fentanyl and morphine from ambulances for his own personal use. Michael L. Fostich, 37, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty on 11/29/2018 before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to obtaining a controlled substance (fentanyl and morphine) by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge. Fostich was employed at the Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD) as a paramedic from August 2014 to Dec. 11, 2016. Fostich had access to fentanyl and morphine, which were stored in sealed narcotics boxes and locked in safes on KCFD ambulances. Each sealed narcotics box contained two vials of fentanyl, each containing 100 micrograms of liquid fentanyl, and two syringes of morphine, each containing 10 milligrams of liquid morphine. Fentanyl and morphine are opioid narcotics used to treat pain. As a paramedic, Fostich was able to unlock the electronic safe and open the sealed narcotics boxes in order to administer controlled substances to patients, if necessary. By pleading guilty, Fostich admitted that he stole fentanyl and morphine from the ambulances for his own personal use. Fostich also admitted that he prepared patient care records and state reporting forms that contained misrepresentations regarding his use of fentanyl and morphine. From Jan. 1 to Dec. 11, 2016, Fostich reported he was responsible for the use, administration, or wasting of 806 doses of fentanyl, which accounted for approximately 39 percent of all of the KCFD’s total reported use, administration and wasting of fentanyl during that period of time. Fostich also reported that he was responsible for the use, administration, or wasting of 636 doses of morphine during that time, which accounted for approximately 63 percent of all of the KCFD’s total reported use, administration or wasting of morphine during that period of time. The KCFD employed approximately 350 paramedics during this time. Under federal statutes, Fostich is subject to a sentence of up to four years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jess E. Michaelsen and Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, and the FBI.

Junior high school maintenance worker arrested and charged after allegedly stealing prescription medications from the nurses' office.

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A maintenance worker at a junior high school in Lisle was arrested after allegedly stealing prescription drugs from the nurse’s office. The maintenance worker is facing the charge of burglary from a school, which is a Class 1 felony. Prosecutors believe he entered Lisle Jr. High School’s nurse’s office on Sunday, March 21, 2022 and unlocked the medicine cabinet. He is accused of taking prescription Adderall that was kept in the medicine cabinet for students. Following an investigation by Lisle police, he was arrested at the school on Wednesday. His bond was set at $75,000.

A central Illinois dentist faces decades in federal prison for allegedly diluting anesthesia for his patients and keeping the drug for himself.

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

An Illinois dentist has been arrested, accused of removing portions of fentanyl from his patients' anesthesia and hoarding it for "personal use," prosecutors say. Phillip Jensen, 61, of Rochester, Illinois, was taken into custody Monday, on a slew of charges including acquiring a controlled substance by fraud. Jensen, who served the Springfield-area and was authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispense controlled substances, allegedly adulterated the fentanyl he was supposed to use as anesthesia for his patients during surgeries starting as early as December 2019 into at least August 2020. Before surgeries, Jensen allegedly pierced the fentanyl vials, removed half the fentanyl then refilled the vials with another solution. He "administered the adulterated fentanyl, which was now at half its labeled strength, to his patients." The portion he removed, he "set aside for his personal use," prosecutors said. On one occasion when Jenson administered the tampered fentanyl to a patient, it "resulted in serious bodily injury to that patient." The indictment also accuses Jensen of acquiring fentanyl by fraud for obtaining the drug from the vials and concealing the removal by refilling it with another substance and replacing the safety caps. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Phillip Jensen, DMD, 61, of Rochester, Illinois, on February 1, 2022, charging him with eight counts of drug diversion, eight counts of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, one count of tampering with consumer products, and three counts of false statements related to health care matters. If convicted, the statutory penalties for the alleged crimes charged are a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment for drug diversion, up to four years' imprisonment for acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, up to twenty years' imprisonment for tampering with consumer products, and up to five years' imprisonment for a false statement related to health care matters. The Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance of the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office, investigated the case. Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Former deputy accessed records to identify previous cases to visit the homes. He claimed to be following up to steal hydrocodone, Percocet, and others.

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A former Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy was charged Friday with stealing prescription drugs from residents while on and off duty over the past few years. Michael Filsinger, 35, of Arnold has been charged with four felony counts of stealing a controlled substance, plus two misdemeanor charges: stealing and misuse of official information by a public servant, court records show. Calling it a "bad and embarrassing day for our department," Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak shared news of the arrest and charges Friday in a post and video on Facebook. Filsinger, who started with the agency in 2008, was fired in December, Marshak said. Filsinger is accused of accessing the department's records to identify previous prescription drug cases, including names, addresses and other information. Filsinger would visit the homes, claiming to be following up on the cases, and then stole the prescription drugs, according to police. The medications included hydrocodone, Percocet, morphine and Vicodin, court records show. Authorities said GPS tracking in Filsinger’s patrol vehicle confirmed that Filsinger had visited the residents despite having no personal or professional ties to them. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between September 2019 and December.

In one instance from October, Filsinger reportedly contacted a resident and offered to pick up a hydrocodone prescription. Two weeks later, he delivered it, but the resident discovered it had been replaced with an over-the-counter pain killer, court records say.

After these victims and several others cooperated with investigators, police said Filsinger had contacted some in "an attempt to intimidate or influence" them. He was in custody in the Jefferson County Jail on Friday. No attorney was listed for him.

CVS Pharmacy Manager falsified records and diluted hydromorphone meant for patients

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Police say pharmacist Brian Thomas Badgley of St. Albans was stealing medication for his personal use. An asset management leader for the company reported the business had opened up an investigation into some missing medication that revealed Badgley, who had been working as the store’s pharmacy manager, had been pocketing medications. Badgley was terminated from his position October 2021, and cited on charges of larceny, possessing a controlled substance, trespassing, and vandalism. Badgley entered a restricted and a controlled area and forcibly broke into a narcotic medication dispensing container. Badgley reported he had access to the entire store, including medication, as the pharmacy manager. He told the officer he would take the medication and then give the computer database tracking the drugs a fake number of remaining pills that wouldn’t trip the system. Investigators said Badgley had reportedly admitted to stealing the narcotic hydromorphone, which started in March and grew out of control. Badgley reported he would dilute the liquid afterward so no one would notice the amount he took. The officer said doing this caused sanitation concerns with the remaining liquid narcotic.

Gilead seized counterfeit medications in 17 locations and nine states, replaced in some cases with antipsychotics or over-the-counter painkillers.

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc. said that a network of little-known drug suppliers and distributors sold illicit and potentially dangerous fake versions of its HIV medicines that ended up in pharmacies and in the hands of patients. In all, Gilead identified 85,247 counterfeit bottles of its branded medications worth more than $250 million that were sold to pharmacies over the past two years following an intensive investigation and court-approved civil seizures, a company spokesman said. The Gilead spokesman said that many of the counterfeit drugs were purchased from homeless or drug-addicted HIV patients and then resold using falsified documentation. “Gilead has uncovered and stopped a complex and criminal enterprise distributing counterfeit Gilead HIV medication through the legitimate U.S. supply chain,” the spokesman said. The company uses the word “counterfeit” to include genuine medications that have faked documentation or altered packaging, as well as fake pills. Gilead filed a lawsuit in July 2021, which was unsealed on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, alleging that the distributors sold its HIV drugs with falsified documentation and altered packaging. In several cases, the bottles contained the wrong pills, including an over-the-counter painkiller and an antipsychotic drug instead of the HIV medications the patients were prescribed, the company alleged. An updated version of the complaint names dozens of defendants, including marketers, suppliers and distributors. The judge unsealed the case after asking Gilead last week to explain why the case should remain fully sealed, saying its continued investigation wasn’t a reason for sealing. Gilead said it didn’t object to the unsealing. In filing the lawsuit, Gilead has taken an under-the-radar approach, by hiring its own private investigators and working with federal and local law enforcement to execute seizures of the defendants’ offices and warehouses, before the defendants were aware of the case. The company sought the seizures under the Lanham Act, a federal trademark statute that allows for plaintiffs to execute civil seizures and litigate a case under seal if approved by a judge. Such seizures, which defendants aren’t aware of in advance, can be a quicker way of getting products off the market than through criminal-law channels, said Randy Gaw, who has represented wholesalers in Lanham Act cases but isn’t involved in the Gilead dispute. “It also gives the company more control over the process itself,” said Mr. Gaw. “When the evidence is seized by the government, it’s in the property of the government and not shared with the company.” As a result of the litigation, Gilead has conducted court-permitted seizures at warehouses and offices spanning 17 locations and nine states, the Gilead spokesman said. Gilead has asked a judge to award damages and to bar the defendants from selling its medications, “whether genuine or counterfeit.” Its claims include violations of trademark laws and that some defendants took part in a racketeering conspiracy. Gilead’s allegations pertain primarily to two of its HIV treatments, Biktarvy and Descovy, the latter of which is also used to prevent HIV infection. The drugs are projected to have had $10.2 billion in combined sales last year. Descovy and Biktarvy arrive at pharmacies in sealed bottles, so pharmacists have no role in filling the containers. A 2013 law required sellers of prescription drugs to provide buyers with a transaction history document known as a pedigree, which details each previous seller and buyer in the supply chain. The law was an effort to crack down on the practice of diverting medicines from the regulated supply chain and then reselling them to pharmacies at discounted prices using falsified pedigrees. In the court papers, Gilead said it first became aware of counterfeit medication in August 2020 after a report from White Cross Pharmacy in Brawley, Calif. That month, a customer called to tell the pharmacy that a bottle of Biktarvy contained the wrong pills, which turned out to be Tylenol, Shane Jerominski, White Cross’s pharmacist-in-charge, said in an interview. The patient didn’t take the pills, and the pharmacy replaced the medication with authentic Biktarvy, Mr. Jerominski said. He said he reported the fake pills to Gilead. Mr. Jerominski said White Cross purchased Biktarvy from Safe Chain Solutions LLC, a wholesale distributor based in Maryland, because it was charging a cheaper price than its primary wholesaler. “I had no way of knowing this was fake,” Mr. Jerominski said. An attorney for Safe Chain, which is a defendant in the suit, said his clients strongly disagree with Gilead’s allegations and that one of the company’s founding principles is protecting the safety and integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain. In court documents, Safe Chain accused Gilead of abusive litigation tactics. The company also said it never sold products it was aware were counterfeit, and quarantined products that it suspected were counterfeit. After Gilead determined that the fake pills weren’t an isolated incident, it sent an alert to all U.S. retail pharmacies warning of fake pills distributed by Safe Chain, the Gilead spokesman said. The March 2021 notice said that Gilead received pharmacy reports of five instances in which patients returned bottles of Biktarvy or Descovy that contained foreign tablets. In July 2021, Gilead learned that Woody Weaver Pharmacy in Tyler, Texas, had purchased bottles of Biktarvy from Scripts Wholesale Inc., court documents say. The pedigree traced the bottles from a wholesaler to authorized distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. , the documents say. But Gilead said the pedigree was fake. Jackie Weaver, who operates the Texas pharmacy, said that Amerisource told him that the pedigree was fake, and that he returned the bottles to Scripts for a refund. Scripts, a defendant in the suit, declined to comment. An Amerisource spokeswoman said the company used transactional data to confirm that the allegedly falsified medicines had not moved through its facilities. Gilead said it was aware of eight bottles with foreign tablets that Safe Chain sold to pharmacies. One held an over-the-counter painkiller, another an HIV drug made by another company, three contained the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, and the remainder contained other Gilead drugs. One patient who unknowingly took Seroquel instead of their HIV pill “could not speak or walk afterwards,” Gilead said in a court filing. After a judge granted permission, Gilead executed seizures on July 26, 2021, when it seized more than a thousand bottles of its medications from Safe Chain. In August, the company issued a public warning in a statement on its website. “Distributors not authorized by Gilead to sell Gilead-branded medicine have sold these counterfeits to pharmacies where genuine Gilead bottles have been tampered with a counterfeit foil induction seal or label and contain incorrect tablets,” the company said in a statement. It said it was working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, pharmacies and legal authorities. Later in August, Gilead seized more than 17,000 bottles of Gilead-labeled medicines from wholesaler ProPharma Distribution LLC, all of which had counterfeit pedigrees and many of which had counterfeit labels, Gilead says in the documents. A lawyer for ProPharma, a defendant in the case, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In court documents, ProPharma said it denied the allegations in the case.

Dental practice employee generated fake prescriptions for controlled substances with forged signatures of licensed prescribers

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Lindsey Cox, 37, of Swanton, Vermont, was sentenced on December 20, 2021 in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont. Cox previously had pleaded guilty to conspiring to acquire controlled substances by fraud and theft in connection with healthcare. According to Court records, Cox formerly was an employee at a dental practice in St. Albans, Vermont. Between April and November 2016, Cox conspired with another employee to generate fake prescriptions for controlled substances and forge the signature of a licensed prescriber. Cox and others then filled the fake prescriptions - which typically were for Oxycodone - at several area pharmacies. In total, investigators identified 46 fake prescriptions. In addition, between May 2016 and August 2017, Cox embezzled $71,942.60 from her employer by manipulating and falsifying payment records in the dental practice’s billing software. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Albans Police Department investigated this case, together with the U.S. Border Patrol and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement agencies and, in particular, the work of the DEA’s drug diversion investigation as well as the St. Albans Police Department’s work to uncover Cox’s embezzlement.

The former coroner’s analyst has been charged with stealing methamphetamine collected at death scene investigations.

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A former coroner’s analyst in San Francisco has been charged with stealing methamphetamine collected at death scene investigations, authorities said Thursday. Justin Volk, who surrendered Thursday, faces two misdemeanor charges of theft and receiving stolen property, the district attorney’s office announced. It wasn’t clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. Volk was a forensic laboratory analyst in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and his duties included processing and storing evidence from death scene investigations, according to a statement from the DA’s office. Volk was arrested last year in Utah and a search of his car turned up methamphetamine in a labeled medical examiner evidence bag, which had been stored in an evidence room, prosecutors said. Volk worked at the forensic laboratory for nearly 13 years but was fired after his arrest. He was involved in testing, collecting and preserving evidence in more than 2,500 investigations, including deaths, sexual assaults and cases involving driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the San Francisco public defender’s office. The district attorney’s office will review criminal cases in which Volk was involved “to ensure that no conviction or punishment has been improperly tainted,” the DA’s statement said.

Former dental office administrative assistant embezzled $23,000 and obtained fraudulent prescriptions from at least 6 local pharmacies.

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A former Attleboro woman charged with obtaining fraudulent painkiller prescriptions with information she got from a dental office where she worked was placed on two years’ probation Monday. Saskia R. Tyrone, 33, formerly of Bushee Street, was an administrative assistant at New England Dental Specialists in Norwood where prosecutors say she obtained patient information from the computer system to obtain the prescriptions. She admitted in Attleboro District Court that there was enough evidence to convict her and was placed on probation with her case continued without a finding. Prosecutors recommended she serve six months of an 18-month sentence with the balance suspended with probation. Tyrone was also charged in another jurisdiction with embezzling $23,000 from the dental office, according to a prosecutor. Tyrone, who is battling drug addiction, is on probation in Dorchester District Court where she is enrolled in a drug court for similar offenses. An investigator for the state police drug diversion unit said Tyrone obtained 21 fraudulent prescriptions that she used at CVS on Route 1 in North Attleboro, CVS on North Main Street in Attleboro and Walgreens on Pleasant Street in Attleboro in addition to pharmacies in Norwood, Dedham and Charlestown. Her lawyer, Paul Carlucci of Franklin, argued against sending his client to jail, saying Tyrone was a victim of domestic violence and has no criminal record of convictions. She is the mother of a 4-year-old girl, Tyrone told Judge Edmund Mathers.

Former dental office administrative assistant embezzled $23,000 and obtained fraudulent prescriptions from at least 6 local pharmacies.

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Former dental office administrative assistant embezzled $23,000 and obtained fraudulent prescriptions from at least 6 local pharmacies.

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Former dental office administrative assistant embezzled $23,000 and obtained fraudulent prescriptions from at least 6 local pharmacies.

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Paramedic admits to Replacing Controlled Substances with Saline and Injecting Himself On Duty. Voluntarily Surrenders License and Pleads to Tampering with Evidence.

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Zachary Coles Jones was a Paramedic at Franklin County American Medical Response (AMR). In October of 2018, Jones was on duty with Franklin County AMR when a coworker noted he was having trouble staying awake, but Jones shrugged it off saying he'd worked a double shift the night prior and was only sleepy. Hours later that same coworker found a used syringe and bloody napkins in the bathroom trash. The coworker reported this to the on-duty supervisors who searched for any evidence of tampering. The next day, AMR requested a drug screen which Jones passed. The next day, they requested a drug screening at a clinic, where Jones was caught attempting to swap his swab with a clean one. He confessed to being under the influence of Fentanyl and claimed responsibility for the syringe found in the bathroom. He also confessed to manipulating the hinges on the narcotics boxes to avoid detection. In a signed consent decree dated March 22, 2021, he accepted responsibility for removing Versed and Fentanyl from the narcotics box on October 6, 2018, and injecting himself with the medications while on duty, and replacing the used contents with saline solution. In April 2019, Jones surrendered his license and was placed on probation, during which he agreed to attend a long-term alcohol and drug treatment program.

Lott Family Pharmacy of Selmer in Tennessee was placed on probation after an audit found drugs not properly accounted for.

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The practicing license of a Lott Family Pharmacy was placed on probation in March for six months for “failure to maintain accurate records of controlled substances.” The Lott Family Pharmacy of Selmer was brought before the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy in February 2020 following an audit of controlled substances, which discovered “discrepancies” regarding numerous amounts of heavy-duty pain medications hydrocodone-acetaminophen and buprenorphine. The disciplinary order states the pharmacy did reach out to their “pharmacy software vendor" after the audit to "ascertain proper utilization of the reporting functions.” In a follow-up inspection in November 2020, the board inspectors were “encouraged” with the improvements to pharmacy's record keeping. Regardless, the violations found in the February 2020 audit meet the standards of the board’s ruling of a “failure to maintain accurate records of controlled substances.” Pharmacists are required to “maintain, on a current basis, a complete and accurate record of each substances manufactured, imported, received, sold, delivered, exported, or otherwise disposed of by him/her, and each inner liner, sealed inner liner, and unused and returned mail-back package,” according to the order. If the pharmacy were to commit any violation of board, federal, state or regulatory standard throughout their probation, their license could be revoked entirely.

Paramedic Voluntarily Surrendered License After Department of Health Found He Stole Controlled Substances

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Former Carlisle County Ambulance Service Director John Curtis was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to theft of a controlled substance under $10,000, first-degree possession of a controlled substance on the first offense and buying or possessing drug paraphernalia. In March, the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office said Curtis was charged after an ambulance service employee reported "Suspicious behavior" to the sheriff's office. The sheriff's office said investigators examined the medical supplies at the ambulance service, and a review of documents provided by the Carlisle County Judge Executive's Office showed that drugs that should have been there were missing. Curtis was interviewed by investigators, and the sheriff's office said he admitted to stealing and using the drugs.

Prescription drug diversion scheme operating out of Nashville sold nearly $60 million in secondhand pills to pharmacies nationwide.

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Jerrod Nichols Smith, 48, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced on July 17, 2018, in U.S. District Court to 15 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee. Visiting United States District Judge Billy Wilson also ordered Smith to forfeit $1.4 million. Smith, along with Charles Jeffrey Edwards, 56, and Brenda Edwards, 47, of Houston, was indicted in January 2013 and charged with operating a 32-month, $50 million drug diversion scheme, in which tainted pharmaceuticals were shipped from a warehouse in Nashville to pharmacies around the country. Smith was the former president of Cumberland Distribution, Inc. (“Cumberland”), a company with its headquarters in Houston, and which ran drug warehouses at two locations:

5425 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37217
1419 Donelson Pike, Nashville, TN 37217

Evidence at trial established that, from December 2006 through August 2009, Smith and Jeff Edwards purchased millions of dollars of prescription drugs from unlicensed suppliers who had previously purchased the drugs from patients in and around New York and Miami. Generally, the diverted drugs included drugs used to combat HIV/AIDS; antipsychotic medications; anti-depressants; blood pressure medications; diabetes medications and others. Although these companies were licensed to sell drugs, Smith and Jeff Edwards used them as pass-through companies to create the appearance that Cumberland was purchasing drugs from licensed suppliers, when Cumberland was purchasing diverted drugs from un-licensed suppliers in New York and Miami. Numerous pharmacies reported problems with drugs they purchased from Cumberland, including prescription drug bottles containing the wrong medicine; the wrong dosage information; and foreign objects inside. Thereafter, in order to evade authorities, Smith and his co-conspirators rented another warehouse, utilized freight forwarding companies to receive drug shipments, set up private email accounts, purchased burner phones and hired a private pilot to fly drugs to Nashville.

Prescription drug diversion scheme operating out of Nashville sold nearly $60 million in secondhand pills to pharmacies nationwide.

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

5425 Harding Place, Nashville, TN 37217
1419 Donelson Pike, Nashville, TN 37217

Car stolen with 30 vials of COVID-19 vaccines inside

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Police in Florida are searching for a man who stole a car containing 30 vials of the COVID-19 vaccine. The car was taken at 4 p.m.on February 3, 2021, from the Strawberry Festival Grounds' red parking lot in Plant City, the Plant City Police Department said. The vials were properly refrigerated at the time of the theft, police said. The suspect is believed to be a man in his early 20s, police said. He's described as having light skin and long hair and was wearing a light-colored hoodie, police said. The car is a 2018 gray Hyundai Accent with Florida license plate NPJJ58, police said. The car's been placed on a "nationwide alert," police said.

Compounding Pharmacy and Its Owner Sentenced for Unlawful Distribution of Prescription Drugs

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A compounding pharmacy based in Nicholasville, and its owner, were sentenced in federal court on 2/18/2021, by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, for unlawful distribution of compounded prescription drugs. Tailor Made Compounding (TMC) was sentenced to three years probation and forfeited $1,788,906.82. The owner, Jeremy Delk, was sentenced to three years probation, including four months home incarceration, 100 hours of community service, a $20,000 fine, and a prohibition from participating in a business involving the distribution of prescription drugs. Delk was sentenced on his guilty plea to one count of unlawfully engaging in wholesale distribution of a prescription drug, without licensing TMC as a wholesale distributor with the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy. According to his plea agreement, from October 23, 2018 through May 14, 2020, TMC sent 112 vials of Methylcobalamin, a prescription form of vitamin B12, to a licensed physician who operated an anti-aging/wellness clinic in the Greater Los Angeles area. Rather than sending individualized, patient-specific prescriptions to TMC, as is required by law, this physician made bulk orders of Methylcobalamin without issuing prescriptions or providing accurate patient names. Delk, as owner and chief executive officer of TMC, knowingly caused TMC to fill and ship bulk, wholesale distributions of Methylcobalamin to the physician, knowing that TMC had never applied for permission from the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy to act as a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs. When authorities from the FDA and the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy inspected TMC, between August 20 and October 24, 2018, Delk took steps to hide records of TMC’s wholesale distributions of Methylcobalamin, as well as other records. TMC was sentenced on its guilty plea to one count of distributing unapproved new drugs throughout the United States, from October 25, 2018 through April 1, 2020. Specifically, TMC pleaded guilty to unlawful distribution of selective androgen receptor modulators (“SARMS”) and other substances that the FDA had not approved for distribution in the United States. SARMS are synthetic chemicals designed to mimic the effects of testosterone and other anabolic steroids. Products containing SARMS were often marketed and sold for body-building purposes. According to the plea agreement, TMC also unlawfully distributed other unapproved new drugs, including BPC 157, Cerebrolysin, CJC 1295, DSIP, Epitalon, GW 501516, Ipamorelin, LGD-4033, LL-37, Melanotan II, MK 677, PEG-MGF, Selank, and Semax. In connection with the plea, TMC agreed to forfeit $1,788,906.82, representing its 2019 sales for these products Tailor Made and Delk pleaded guilty in October 2020.

Two vials of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine stolen from Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Jeffrey SchweersCapital Bureau Chattahoochee police are investigating the reported theft of two vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Florida State Hospital, which has been embroiled in controversy in this small rural community hit hard by the pandemic. The state's largest public mental health hospital reported the theft from its medical service unit Tuesday to the Chattahoochee Police Department, which sent two officers out to investigate. The case may be the nation's first publicly reported incident involving stolen vaccine doses. The case is still an open investigation, a police official said. Officials with the Department of Children and Families, which operates FSH, said they were looking into questions by USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida but had no immediate answers. Likewise, the Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management did not immediately provide answers to questions posed to them. A Moderna vial contains 10 doses of the vaccine Moderna vials contain 10 doses, and the company was charging $32-$37 per dose. But the report filed with Chattahoochee Police said each vial was worth $5,000 for a total of $10,000. According to a news release from Moderna, the vaccine remains stable at 36° to 46°F, the temperature of a standard home or medical refrigerator, for 30 days. The vaccine remains stable at -4°F for up to six months, at refrigerated conditions for up to 30 days and at room temperature for up to 12 hours, the company said. This is not the first time the state mental hospital, which is operated by the Department of Children and Families, has had problems related to COVID-19. Members of the community objected to plans to make FSH the main facility for mental health patients who tested positive for COVID-19, concerned it would affect the town's COVID rate. Nurses and other staff complained about unsafe working conditions at the sprawling institution. After four patients died over the summer, DCF Secretary Chad Poppell ordered an inspection of on-site operations, as well as mandatory testing of all staff and residents. Hospital at 64% capacity Florida State Hospital has 223 buildings spread out over 620 acres in north Gadsden County, near the Georgia border. Residential units are divided into civil services and forensic services, with 490 beds in civil and 469 in forensics. The hospital has more than 830 staff. It is at 64% capacity, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. As of Jan. 7, the hospital had 2 residents and 22 staff members with COVID-19, according to the Department of Children and Families, which oversees and operates the facility. At least 18 residents have died at the hospital since the pandemic began. Federal and state officials around the country have stepped up security surrounding COVID-19 vaccine shipments to protect it from black marketeers who could profit from the scarce but in high demand vaccine, and anti-vaxxers who would destroy it. The U.S. Immigrations Customs and Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations in November announced it launched Operation Stolen Promise 2.0, "the next phase of strategic efforts to identify and prevent the production, sale and distribution of unapproved or unauthorized COVID-19 products and drugs," the agency said. “Hospitals understand that the COVID-19 vaccines are an extremely precious resource," and are accustomed to safeguarding medications that can be potential targets for theft, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. "As with controlled substances, hospitals are following a documented chain of custody for the vaccines. This process includes multiple sign-offs – when the vaccine is delivered, when it leaves the pharmacy, and when it is administered to the patient," Mayhew said. "Many hospitals are also providing added security personnel at all vaccine distribution sites. Routine audits to ensure count accuracy are also being conducted." Very few cases of theft or tampering have been reported to date. A Milwaukee pharmacist and self-described "conspiracy theorist" was arrested in late December an charged with the destruction of some 550 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Stephen Brandenburg, 46, intentionally removed vials of the vaccine from the refrigerator where he worked, leaving them out for more than 12 hours, potentially rendering the vaccine ineffective, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He believed the vaccine could change people's DNA, police said. It cannot alter people's DNA, and is perfectly safe, said scientists who sit on the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. "As a scientist, I think they are going to be very, very safe," said Dr. Paul Spearman, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Cleaning company employee and friend arrested for allegedly stealing 20 pre-filled vials of morphine and seven boxes of medical-grade isolation masks, 20 bottles of hand sanitizer, 10 containers of soap, eight bottles of air deodorizer, six packages of bleach wipes, and 50 tubs of Sani-wipes—items that large retailers are having trouble keeping in stock these days.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

On April 15, the pharmacy director at an Indiana hospital contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to report a theft: Someone had pilfered 30 pre-filled syringes of morphine the night before, valued at more than $500. Authorities quickly arrested a woman who works for a cleaning company that services the facility, Central Indiana Cancer Centers, and her friend. But the real score wasn’t the drugs, which the duo told police they planned to re-sell for $3,000. It was the seven boxes of medical-grade isolation masks, 20 bottles of hand sanitizer, 10 containers of soap, eight bottles of air deodorizer, six packages of bleach wipes, and 50 tubs of Sani-wipes—an item many large retailers are having trouble keeping in stock these days. “Based on my training and experience, I know these items are highly sought after in the secondary market due to shortages resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic and that these types of items are being sold on the secondary market at an increased price well over fair market value,” DEA task force officer Jason Homan said in a criminal complaint filed in Indiana federal court. Drug theft in healthcare facilities is a growing problem in the US. Some studies show that up to 10% of pharmacists, nurses, and anesthesiologists are stealing drugs at work. The organized theft of personal protective equipment, or PPE, however, is a much more recent phenomenon. Police arrested a housekeeping employee at an Arizona hospital earlier this month for allegedly swiping gloves, hand sanitizer, surgical scrubs, paper towels, face masks, bleach, and toilet paper. In Florida, police busted a physician’s assistant after hospital workers spotted him loading large amounts of PPE into his Jaguar XF. And burglars recently made off with $250,000 worth of PPE in Hawaii. The theft of PPE, and their sale on the secondary market at much higher prices, is contributing to shortages at US hospitals, many of which are struggling to obtain enough PPE to keep caregivers safe. As Quartz reported, federal authorities recently opened an investigation into a New York City pharmacist allegedly selling PPE at up to 15 times the regular price. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established anti-hoarding measures for medical-grade face masks, and the Department of Justice formed a task force to fight hoarding and price gouging. It didn’t take much effort for investigators to identify the Indiana suspects. Access card data pointed to someone on the cleaning crew, and security video caught them lifting the morphine while attempting to cover their faces with white lab coats. A manager identified one of the pair as his employee. If convicted on all counts, the two face up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $2.5 million.

Physician Assistant Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

David Lague was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and for unlawfully distributing prescription drugs, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Chris Nielsen, and Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations Special Agent in Charge Steven J. Ryan. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., U.S. District Judge. On July 24, 2018, a jury found Lague guilty of 39 counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), after a two-week trial. During the trial, evidence showed that Lague intentionally prescribed drugs to five different patients, knowing that the prescriptions were outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. The evidence showed that, on two occasions, a patient asked Lague to double his prescriptions for powerful opioids so that the patient could sell the drugs. Lague not only doubled the prescriptions, he also discussed with the patient how to do it in a way to avoid scrutiny by pharmacies or law enforcement. Lague admitted at trial that he wrote false medical records of those visits in order to cover up what he was doing. The evidence at trial also showed that Lague falsified records as to other patients as well, detailing exams that never took place and indicating that he had reviewed lab work that he never reviewed. An expert who reviewed four of Lague’s patient files found that his handling of those patients was an extreme departure from the standard of care. Further, the evidence at trial showed that, among physicians who prescribed opioids to 50 or more MediCare patients, Lague was the highest prescriber of opioids in California in 2015 and 2016. “This case represents an important victory for the community in its fight against the diversion of prescription drugs,” U.S. Attorney Tse said. “The medical profession has made great strides in reforming prescribing practices, and the DEA has worked to decrease the total quantities of pills that pharmaceutical companies produce every year, all with the end of decreasing the numbers of powerful opioid pills getting into the hands of vulnerable members of our community,” he continued. “We appreciate and support their combined efforts. At the same time, we will not hesitate to charge and seek the conviction of those few medical professionals who have abandoned all pretense of providing patient care and instead use their power to prescribe for their own personal benefit. David Lague abused his power in this way. He showed no hesitation when asked to provide pills to someone who said he was going to sell them. There can be no greater abuse of the trust the community placed in him when it gave him the ability to prescribe. Lague’s conduct put a stain on the reputations of the thousands of doctors and physician assistants who try their hardest daily to provide compassionate, quality medical care to the patients they see.” “Most physician assistants generally hold as their primary responsibility the health, safety, welfare and dignity of all human beings. Instead, Mr. Lague placed his own personal interests above protecting public health and safety, when he provided powerful narcotics outside the usual course of practice and without a medical purpose. This criminal behavior jeopardizes lives,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge Nielsen. “DEA will continue to hold accountable those who engage in this type of illegal conduct.” “Medical professionals who overprescribe deadly opioids threaten the health and safety of vulnerable individuals across the country,” said Steven J. Ryan, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “OIG along with our law enforcement partners will ensure that corrupt people, like David Lague, pay a heavy price for the criminal prescribing of opioids.” In addition to the prison term, Judge Gilliam sentenced the defendant to a 3-year period of supervised release following incarceration, a $5,000 fine, and a $3,800 special assessment. Lague was immediately remanded into custody to begin serving his sentence. The prosecution is the product of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

An Indiana hospital theft shows face masks and hand sanitizer are as sought after as drugs due to COVID-19

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The pharmacy director at an Indiana hospital contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to report a theft: Someone had pilfered 30 pre-filled syringes of morphine the night before, valued at more than $500. Authorities quickly arrested a woman who works for a cleaning company that services the facility, Central Indiana Cancer Centers, and her friend.

Veteran’s Affairs Respiratory Therapist charged with stealing COVID-19 related medical supplies and selling them on eBay

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A respiratory therapist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Seattle pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to theft of government property, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. GENE WAMSLEY, 41, of Bonney Lake, Washington, admits stealing a ventilator and other respiratory medical equipment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and selling it for his own gain. WAMSLEY faces up to ten years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart on January 11, 2021. According to records filed in the case, the investigation began in January 2020 when VAMC reported two bronchoscopes, used for examining a patient’s airway, went missing from the hospital. A third bronchoscope was reported missing in April 2020. In all, WAMSLEY admits stealing and selling three bronchoscopes worth over $100,000 for just $15,750. WAMSLEY sold the scopes to a Florida resident via eBay. When WAMSLEY’s home was searched in June, law enforcement seized a fourth bronchoscope and a $6,000 sleep apnea device called a WatchPat that had been stolen from the VA Medical Center. Further investigation revealed that in April 2020, WAMSLEY also stole a $9,950 respirator and sold it via eBay to an Ohio man for just $6,000. The total loss to the United States from the thefts is $132,291. The case is being investigated by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

El Paso hospital warehouse manager arrested in theft of boxes with N95 masks, police say

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A hospital warehouse manager was arrested last week after being accused of stealing boxes of N95 masks, the El Paso Police Department said Friday. Eduardo Salas, 57, was arrested around 10:40 a.m. April 4 by an El Paso police officer working extra duty at the Del Sol Medical Center warehouse, 10301 Gateway Blvd. West, who said he saw Salas, the warehouse manager, placing boxes of N95 masks into the trunk of his own vehicle. After the officer was informed Salas did not have permission to take the masks, Salas was arrested and charged with theft for the two boxes, which contained 100 N95 masks, police said. Salas was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a theft charge April 4 on a $5,000 bond. Records show he was released later that day. N95 masks are in demand because they are used by health care professionals battling the coronavirus pandemic. They filter out the potentially fatal virus. Authorities recommend everyone use a cloth mask in public to protect others from the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, but say N95 masks currently should be reserved for health care workers and first responders due to shortages across much of the nation and world.

CEO of Non-Profit Accused of Stealing Vaccines. Nurse says she saw CEO grab a handful of vaccines and stuff them in his bag, along with the corresponding CDC vaccination record cards. The CEO initially denied the nurse's account but eventually admitted he took doses home during a Jan. 28 interview on NBC's Today show.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The CEO of Philly Fighting COVID, a group that contracted with the city of Philadelphia to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, has been accused of stealing vaccine doses shortly after health officials ended their contract with the group. Accroding to National Public Radio, The CEO initially denied Lipinsky's account but eventually admitted he took doses home during a Jan. 28 interview on NBC's Today show. The following day at a press conference, he said he had vaccinated his girlfriend, but no one else. He did not explain how Philly Fighting Covid ended up with extra doses after it turned away people, including seniors, who were in line waiting for the vaccine that same day. On Tuesday, Katrina Lipinsky, a 29-year-old registered nurse-practitioner that volunteered with the group said that she saw the group's CEO Andrei Doroshin stealing doses of the vaccine. "As an RN who volunteered to give vaccines for them I feel super sh***y about my complicity in this mess. I was there Saturday - Andrei Doroshin, the CEO at Philly Fighting COVID, took home a ziplock bag-full of vaccines. Stuffed them in his bag and left with them," Lipinsky wrote on Twitter. In a subsequent tweet, Lipinsky wrote that she notified the group's chief medical staff about what she saw but was they responded by telling her that the Philadelphia Department of Health "supports that so we don't waste vaccines." While speaking with WHYY news in Philadelphia, Lipinsky said, "They ended the day with a significant number of unused vaccines. Andrei walked pretty openly from the vaccine area over to his belongings and packed maybe 10 to 15 in his bag with CDC record cards." Lipinsky also told the Philadelphia Inquirer that when she volunteered with the group, she was not asked to show a medical license or any documentation that verified her qualifications but eventually provided it after she asked the group if it was required. Newsweek reached out to Lipinsky for comment. The accusations from Lipinsky come just a day after the city's health department announced they were no longer working with Philly Fights COVID. "The Philadelphia Department of Public Health will no longer work with Philly Fighting COVID to provide testing or vaccine, effective immediately. We have recently been made aware of a change in PFC's corporate status that took place without our knowledge, from nonprofit to for-profit," a spokesperson for the health department told Newsweek via email. "As part of this change, PFC updated its data privacy policy in a way that could allow the organization to sell data collected through PFC's pre-registration site." "The City has not been notified of any of these data having been sold. But for PFC to have made these changes without discussion with the City is extremely troubling. As a result of these concerns, along with PFC's unexpected stoppage of testing operations, the Health Department has decided to stop providing vaccine to PFC," the email said. According to the Inquirer, James Garrow, a spokesman for the city's health department said that Doroshin only informed one health official that the group was changing to a for-profit model, which was months after PFC filed paperwork with the state establishing it as a business. Philly Fighting COVID's website privacy policy shows that the group is owned by a private company established by Doroshin in December, called Vax Populi, according to the Inquirer, which was able to share personal information "in connection with any merger or sale of the company." While Garrow noted that the city's health department was unaware of the connection with Vax Populi and PFC, Doroshin told the Inquirer that the group identified themselves as Vax Populi after submitting their proposal to the city to help administer vaccines. Doroshin also told the Inquirer that he spoke with city officials about changing to a for-profit model and was told it was fine. In early January, Philly Fighting COVID opened its first mass vaccination site and has since vaccinated roughly 7,000 residents, according to the Inquirer. While speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said that the city and Philly Fighting COVID had a contract agreement on data usage but not around the vaccination effort, stating that, "There was no money exchanged for them to run this clinic." The Inquirer also reported that Philadelphia City Councilwoman Cindy Bass said that her office is in the process of drafting a resolution for a public hearing. The resolutions authorizes the Committee of Public Health and Human Services "to hold hearings to investigate the City's vaccine contracting process, including an examination of Philly Fighting COVID's contract with the City." Newsweek reached out to Bass for comment. Following the termination of the contract between the city and Philly Fighting COVID, the group released a statement which said, "We understand that there have been legitimate inquiries into our privacy policies. There was language in our privacy policy that was problematic and as soon as we became aware of it, we removed it. I apologize, for the mistake in our privacy policy. We never have and never would sell, share, or disseminate any data we collected as it would be in violation of HIPAA rules." Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also released a statement on Tuesday, where he said "It is concerning that reportedly Philly Fighting COVID appears to have misrepresented its role in vaccine distribution and is reported to have failed to disclose information about a for-profit operation." Krasner also noted in the statement that he was concerned about the group's privacy policy and said, "I encourage members of the public, including City employees, who have information about what they believe to be crimes related to this matter or other pandemic relief efforts, to contact our Special Investigations Unit directly." Newsweek was directed to Krasner's statement after reaching out to his office for comment. In an email sent to Newsweek Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro wrote "Taking advantage of people and their privacy under the guise of serving as a nonprofit is not only unethical -- it can also be against Pennsylvania law. These allegations against Philly Fighting COVID are serious and any consumers who believe they have been misled should file a complaint with our office." "We have been in touch with the City to obtain any information they can provide about these allegations. Our office oversees charitable organizations in the Commonwealth and we will ensure they are acting in good faith with the communities they serve," Shapiro wrote in his statement. Newsweek reached out to Philly Fighting COVID for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Suspect Logged Into Electronic Prescription Program as Ophthalmologist to Fraudulently Issue Opioid Scripts

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

For an eye surgery center, Cornerstone Eye Associates in Rochester, N.Y., sure did write a lot of opioid prescriptions. Between January 2018 and February 2019, the surgery center sent 73 scripts to local pharmacies for more than 5,000 Vicodin and Oxycontin. But federal prosecutors say not a single one of those painkillers went to a patient. They were all obtained by fraud by an employee of the surgery center, Shannon Lambert, the LASIK refractive surgery coordinator who is accused of using an ophthalmologist's ID to log into the center's electronic prescription program to write and submit prescriptions directly to the pharmacy — either in her name or in the names of acquaintances, mostly relatives also named Lambert, who were not Cornerstone patients. All prescriptions were issued without the knowledge or authorization of a physician and without a legitimate medical purpose, according to a complaint filed by U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York based on a DEA investigation. Lambert pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Rochester to obtaining controlled substances by fraud and identity theft.

Someone swapped cough syrup for Morphine at an Indiana nursing home.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Mishawaka Police Department is investigating a report of someone swapping out morphine for Robitussin at a local nursing home. According to police logs, early Saturday Morning, staff at Creekside Village on East Douglas Road, noticed the color of a vial of morphine was off. After testing, they discovered it had been swapped with cough syrup. It's not clear if the morphine was made to be injected or taken orally. Regardless, experts say, a swap like that could cause major damage. “I just don’t see Robitussin harming anybody.” Pharmacist Ray Kadi, said. “However, if you look at the problem down the road for that particular patient, he’s not going to get the pain relief out of that dose.” Kadi says nobody should be injured by simply taking Robitussin. However, if a dose of morphine isn't helping with pain, a doctor would typically order a higher dose. And, if that patient finally gets the real drug after only having cough syrup, the higher dose could be too much. “Might stop his breathing. Might have a lot of problems.” Kadi said, explaining the symptoms of an opioid overdose. If the morphine was injectable, experts with the Indiana Poison Center says they don't believe the drugs in cough syrup would cause problems, however other ingredients could. They explain the cough syrup just isn't sterile. It also contains dyes and flavors that could be problematic. ABC57 asked Creekside Village several questions about drug security and if any employee had been disciplined. A representative for the company sent the following statement: "At Creekside Village, our highest priority is always the safety and well-being of our residents. Recently, a nurse suspected a narcotic prescribed to one resident may have been tampered with. We immediately launched an internal investigation and inventoried all medications. The one vial of concern was immediately returned to the pharmacy for testing. Upon confirmation, we contacted the authorities and the Indiana State Department of Health. The investigation into the chain of custody continues. No resident has been harmed as a result of the incident."

Dentist pais $200,000 to resolve allegations of illegitimate controlled substance prescribing

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Scott T. Singstock, D.D.S., has agreed to pay $200,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the Controlled Substances Act by writing illegitimate prescriptions for controlled substances, U.S. Attorney Andrew B. Birge announced this week. Dr. Singstock, who during the course of the investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) surrendered his DEA registration that allowed him to prescribe controlled substances, also has agreed to a five-year restriction on his ability to apply for a new registration. This settlement resolves allegations that Dr. Singstock, a Grand Rapids dentist, wrote numerous prescriptions for controlled substances, most of which were for opioids, without a legitimate medical purpose and outside of the usual course of professional practice. The United States alleges that many of these prescriptions were written for individuals with whom Dr. Singstock had no bona fide doctor-patient relationship and no medical records. “The DEA entrusts physicians like Dr. Singstock with a privilege to prescribe controlled substances—a privilege that requires compliance with laws and regulations designed to protect against the diversion of prescription drugs that fuels the ongoing opioid epidemic,” said U.S. Attorney Birge. “If you break that trust by bending the rules, the consequences will be swift and significant. As we continue to fight the opioid epidemic in Michigan, my office is committed to working with the DEA and other law enforcement to ensure compliance.” “Everyone, including the patient, the prescriber, and the manufacturer, plays an important role in utilizing opioids correctly,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin, Detroit Field Division. “In this instance, the prescriber chose to operate outside of the law, and this is the consequence for that choice.” This case was investigated by the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Hull represented the United States. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

An investigation identified a health care worker who was diverting injectable narcotics for personal use as the likely source of 13 hepatitis C virus infections in an ED in Washington state.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

“Drug diversion can be defined as any act or deviation that removes a prescription drug from its intended path from the manufacturer to the patient,” Henry N. Njuguna, MBChB, MPH, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer with the Washington State Department of Health, said. “Health care providers with drug addiction many times inject patients’ drugs for personal use. Cases of drug diversion and infection transmission to patients by heath care providers have been reported.” Following two reports of acute HCV infection in patients without known risk factors, Washington state began an investigation and identified a woman who had treated both patients and tested positive for HCV antibodies. According to Njugna and colleagues, the woman accessed the automated drug dispensing system more frequently compared with other staff and admitted diverting injectable narcotics, as well as antihistamines, for personal use.

Thirty-Three Defendants Charged, and Multiple Defendants Plead Guilty To Racketeering Conspiracy In Nationwide Prescription Drug Diversion Case

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Defendants Admit Criminal Enterprise Engaged in Broad Array of Crimes Including Money Laundering, Bank Fraud, and Identity Theft to Fuel Multi-Million Dollar Conspiracy Thirty-two people were arrested on May 6, 2015, after being charged variously with racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit identity theft; conspiracy to commit access device fraud; conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering; conspiracy to use a facility of interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire; and conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of drugs. This led to multiple guilty pleas. For example, on May 27, 2020, Mihran Stepanyan, Artur Stepanyan, Yan German, and Khachig Geuydjian pleaded guilty to crimes stemming from their respective roles in a wide-ranging racketeering conspiracy involving diversion of prescription drugs, money laundering, bank fraud, identity theft, and additional crimes, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson; Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett; and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter. The pleas were accepted by the Hon. Charles R. Breyer, United States District Judge, and leaves one remaining defendant to stand trial for allegations made in a Second Superseding Indictment filed in February of 2016 against 38 defendants. “Patients needing prescription drugs shouldn’t have to worry that their medications came out of a back alley,” said U.S. Attorney Anderson. “The defendants and their co-conspirators were able to make massive profits by diverting street drugs back into mainstream channels while creating false paperwork to conceal their true source. Thanks to the FBI, IRS, and federal prosecutors in San Francisco, the defendants now face the prospect of lengthy prison sentences for their criminal conduct.” “The American public was victimized twice by this scheme,” said FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. “The majority of the profits were subsidized both by American taxpayers and by those paying private insurance premiums.” “Additionally, patients were put at risk by the movement of these black market drugs, as the defendants disregarded general safety protocols and guidelines, to include expiration dates and pharmaceutical lot numbers.” “Today’s guilty pleas bring us one step closer to closing the chapter on this criminal enterprise,” said Kareem Carter, Special Agent in Charge IRS Criminal Investigation. “The crimes committed by these defendants ranged from picking up drugs at a pizza shop to a half-million-dollar tax check fraud scheme. In total, more than $199 million in diverted prescription drug proceeds were laundered through bank accounts established with false identities and shell companies. IRS-CI is committed to following the money so we can financially disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations like these.” All four defendants pleading guilty today—Mihran Stepanyan (M. Stepanyan), his cousin Artur Stepanyan (A. Stepanyan), German, and Geuydjian—have acknowledged that they were members of a nationwide conspiracy referred to in court documents as the Karapedyan-Stepanyan Enterprise (Enterprise). One key aspect of the criminal activity was a multi-million dollar prescription drug diversion scheme. According to the plea agreements filed today, members and associates of the Enterprise procured prescription drugs from unlicensed sources, usually street dealers, and resold the drugs to unknowing customers. The Stepanyans also admitted that they are not licensed to sell drugs, that they procured millions of dollars of drugs through street suppliers and other unlicensed sources, and that the drugs they procured eventually were resold as legitimate products. The Stepanyans’ plea agreements include an overview of the complexity and sophistication of the Enterprise’s operations. Members of the Enterprise conducted the affairs of the organization through a pattern of racketeering and committed crimes throughout California as well as in Minnesota, Ohio, and Puerto Rico. Further, the Stepanyans’ plea agreements describe how members and associates of the Enterprise procured and distributed a wide variety of drugs from unlicensed sources for distribution throughout the country. The drugs included medications used to treat HIV infection, Type-2 diabetes, dementia, and high blood pressure, among other conditions. Members and associates of the Enterprise also created false and fraudulent paperwork, referred to as pedigrees, to make it appear that those drugs had been purchased from legitimate sources. In addition, they created sham companies and used multiple bank accounts to receive and distribute the proceeds from their fraudulent transactions. The plea agreements also describe how the Stepanyans, along with other members and associates of the Enterprise, intentionally used the identities of real people to carry out their unlawful objectives. The plea agreements of Geuydjian and German provide further details of the Enterprise’s operations. Specifically, Geuydjian’s plea agreement describes how he negotiated fraudulent personal and tax checks for the benefit of the Enterprise, and German’s plea agreement describes how he supplied drugs for distribution by the Enterprise and managed aspects of the Enterprise’s money laundering operations. According to M. Stepanyan’s plea agreement, he became a member of the Enterprise as early as January 2010. He admitted that he agreed with his co-conspirators to commit multiple criminal acts involving money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, and multiple acts involving the distribution of drugs from unlicensed sources to conduct the affairs of the Enterprise. In his plea agreement, M. Stepanyan admitted that he controlled several entities, including Red Rock Capital Group, Inc.; Trans Atlantic Capital Group, Inc.; GC National Wholesale, Inc.; and Sky Atlantic Group, Inc., in addition to numerous bank accounts through which approximately $199 million of pharmaceutical money flowed between 2010 and 2014. M. Stepanyan also admitted purchasing approximately $56 million in gold using the illicit proceeds from the unlawful sale of prescription drugs. As a further example of his participation in the Enterprise, M. Stepanyan used an entity called Niva Pharmaceuticals to facilitate transactions related to the criminal conspiracy. Specifically, M. Stepanyan admitted that in January of 2014, he purchased Niva from a co-conspirator who had set up the company. Although Niva was licensed to engage in drug wholesaling in California, it was not and did not engage in wholesale drug distribution. Instead, M. Stepanyan acknowledged, Niva was nothing more than a shell company with offices that generally were empty except for a desk, a computer, and tables for drugs that the Enterprise procured. The plea agreement describes how Enterprise members stored boxes of drugs in Niva’s offices and shipped them throughout the country using fraudulent labels that suggested the drugs were being shipped by or to authentic companies, including a legitimate drug company operating in Puerto Rico. A. Stepanyan also admitted in his plea agreement that he was a member of the Enterprise beginning in at least January of 2010. Between 2010 and 2015, he directed and participated in a prescription drug diversion scheme whereby he procured drugs from various unlicensed sources and sold them to a co-defendant who, in turn, sold the drugs to pharmacies throughout the United States. Further, A. Stepanyan admitted that the gross receipts for the sale of those diverted prescription drugs was at least $199 million. According to the plea agreement, A. Stepanyan and his cousin, M. Stepanyan, laundered those proceeds through various bank accounts established in false identities, which M. Stepanyan controlled. German admitted in his plea agreement that he was a member of the Enterprise between 2013 and 2015. He acknowledged that he was responsible for establishing a network of unlicensed street suppliers to provide drugs for the distribution scheme. As described in his plea agreement, German had multiple sources of drugs. Between 2013 and 2014, he obtained boxes full of prescription drugs from one of his co-conspirators in Los Angeles, California. For example, he would pick up drugs from one of his sources at a pizza shop with the help of one of his associates, load the boxes into the trunk of a car, and drive them to a nearby mall or another pre-arranged location where he would deliver them to the Stepanyans. German also admitted that in his role managing money-laundering operations for the Enterprise, he assisted with wire fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, and illegal check cashing schemes. In the plea agreement, German admits that he used his birth name, Henrik Hartyunyan, during some of the underlying illegal conduct he performed on behalf of the Enterprise. Geuydjian admitted that he was a member of the Enterprise from at least 2012 through approximately 2014. In his plea agreement, he describes himself as a “money launderer for the Enterprise.” Geuydjian acknowledged that he and others in the Enterprise created sham companies and used multiple bank accounts to receive and distribute the proceeds from the fraudulent transactions. Geuydjian liquidated tax fraud and drug diversion proceeds by making deposits to a number of sham corporate entities that he created and allowed other members and associates of the Enterprise to use his businesses to send illicit funds and other merchandise. Furthermore, Geuydjian used the identities of real people to carry out many of the Enterprise’s unlawful objectives. For example, the plea agreement describes how Geuydjian’s co-conspirators acquired and possessed stolen identifying information for dozens of individuals in order to file fraudulent tax returns online. The Enterprise obtained checks issued by the federal government and mailed from the United States Treasury based on fraudulent tax returns. From approximately August 2012 through August 2013, Geuydjian fraudulently liquidated approximately 51 checks totaling more than $538,295 though accounts he held in the names of three companies he controlled. Geuydjian also used photocopies of driver’s licenses, social security cards, or other personal identifying with the identities of real people to open bank accounts or gain access to the victims’ bank accounts, to negotiate checks made out in the victims’ names. Furthermore, Geudjian and his co-conspirators perpetrated a tax check fraud scheme. For example, in March 2014, Geudjian deposited two tax refund checks into fraudulent Wells Fargo bank accounts—one in the amount of $117,887 and another in the amount of $131,205. These checks, which were from legitimate tax return filings, were stolen out of the mail by “runners” employed by members of the conspiracy. Geudjian also liquidated approximately $71,806 that his co-conspirators stole from a victim’s Fidelity 401K retirement account. On February 11, 2016, a federal grand jury handed down the Second Superseding Indictment charging the four defendants—as well as 34 additional individuals—with various crimes in connection with the activities of the Enterprise. All four defendants pleading guilty today are released on bond pending sentencing. A majority of the defendants in this case have pleaded guilty to various charges. For those defendants who have not yet been sentenced, in addition to a term of imprisonment and fine, the court also may order additional periods of supervised release, restitution, and special assessments. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. A separate investigation resulted in another indictment filed on May 6, 2015 in the Southern District of Ohio charging M. Stepanyan, A. Stepanyan, and others with various crimes arising from their sale of millions of dollars of illicitly-procured drugs. That matter was transferred to the Northern District of California and consolidated with the instant case. Assistant United States Attorneys Claudia A. Quiroz, Andrew Dawson, and Chris Kaltsas are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Adrienne DelaPena and Kevin Costello. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS.

Medication assistant pleads guilty to stealing pills.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Melissa Smith, a Qualified Medication Assistant (QMA) who worked at The Village of Avon nursing home in Hendricks County. That conviction followed a referral for prosecution by Hendricks County Prosecutor Loren Delp. Smith pleaded guilty to four felony counts of failing to make, keep or furnish a record, after an audit of her paperwork revealed that she took 266 pills that remained unaccounted for, including Norco, Hydromorphone and Oxycodone. Smith will serve a two-year sentence with terms including 120 hours of community service work and substance abuse treatment. Smith will also have a chance to have her felonies reduced to misdemeanors after a year, provided she complies with the terms of her agreement.

A Tennessee Physician, Two Florida Clinic Owners, and a Kentucky Man Convicted for Roles in Tennessee-Based Pill Mill Operation

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A Tennessee doctor, two clinic owners from the Miami, FL area, and a Woodbine, KY man were convicted today by a federal jury in London on oxycodone-trafficking charges. Three defendants were also convicted of multiple counts of money laundering. After three days of deliberations following a four-week trial, the jury convicted Timothy Gowder, 71, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Anwar Mithavayani, 55, and Pete Tyndale, 47, clinic owners from Florida, of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and oxymorphone. James Bradley Combs, 41, from Woodbine, Kentucky, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. According to testimony at trial, Gowder and the clinic owners worked together to run an illicit pain clinic near Chattanooga, Tennessee, called Tennessee Pain Institute (or “TPI”), which drug addicts and drug traffickers in Kentucky and elsewhere used as their supplier. The evidence further revealed that, after the Tennessee Department of Health investigated TPI’s doctors and federal law enforcement executed a search warrant at TPI, clinic owners Tyndale and Mithavayani opened a new pain clinic in North Carolina to cater to the same Kentucky population.

A Tennessee Physician, Two Florida Clinic Owners, and a Kentucky Man Convicted for Roles in Tennessee-Based Pill Mill Operation

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Owner of Detroit-Area Health Care Clinics Pleads Guilty to Drug Diversion Scheme

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Shirley Douglas, 70, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances before U.S. District Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan. Sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 19, 2019, before Judge Lawson. As part of her guilty plea, Douglas admitted that, as the owner and operator of Abyssinia Love Knot Physical Therapy L.L.C., which was purportedly a pain clinic and a physical therapy clinic, she conspired with her co-conspirators to employ physicians who would write medically unnecessary prescriptions for controlled substances, such as oxycodone, oxymorphone and other controlled substances. Douglas facilitated patient visits with doctors, and accepted payment from patients and patient recruiters/marketers in exchange for physician visits at which she knew that prescriptions for medically unnecessary controlled substances would be provided. Medicare beneficiaries were also required to sign physical therapy documents as a condition to receive prescriptions for controlled substances, regardless of medical necessity. The total drug amount attributable to Douglas is in excess of 500,000 oxycodone pills, she admitted.

Two medical assistants and a boyfriend to one of them are facing organized crime charges for allegedly forging more than 100 prescriptions for the pain-treating narcotic hydrocodone by using information from their Shenandoah, TX employer.

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The medical assistants work in an Doctor's office building and are accused of forging prescriptions to steal Hydrocodone. The charges amount to a first-degree felony.

A Lockhart, Texas police officer allegedly stole a controlled substance from a junior high where he had previously been a resource officer.

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Investigators said the theft happened during the weekend of Oct. 5, 2019. The school nurse called police on Oct. 7 after she noticed 30 missing pills while taking inventory of the students’ medications. Police said surveillance footage showed the officer entering the school clinic on Oct. 5. They said he was wearing civilian clothing and used his school resource key.

Amsterdam Hospital to Pay Civil Penalty for Violations of the Controlled Substances Act

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam, New York, agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty as a result of its Narcotic Treatment Program’s (NTP) failure to create and maintain records required by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith. In March 2019, Drug Enforcement Administration diversion investigators inspected St. Mary’s NTP and noted multiple recordkeeping violations. When St. Mary’s relocated its NTP in October 2018, the NTP failed to conduct the required initial inventory of methadone at the new location. Furthermore, the NTP omitted material information on multiple forms required by DEA, which are used to order and track controlled substances. The forms omitted information such as quantity of packages ordered, date the containers were received, and the correct supplier. The lack of an initial inventory, combined with incomplete forms, made it difficult to determine whether diversion was occurring at the NTP. Diversion occurs when controlled substances are transferred from legitimate distribution channels to illegitimate distribution channels. Since this matter was brought to its attention, St. Mary’s created a new position for a registered nurse to oversee controlled substance dispensing at the NTP and is implementing a policy to enhance its compliance with the CSA recordkeeping requirements. “Reliable recordkeeping is a cornerstone of the safe distribution of prescribed drugs,” said United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith. “This settlement demonstrates that medical facilities that do not accurately keep track of addictive drugs will be held accountable. I commend St. Mary’s for promptly taking responsibility and changing its practices to enhance its compliance with the Controlled Substances Act and encourage all medical facilities to examine their own practices and ensure they are in full compliance.”

Two wholesale pharmaceutical companies charged in a scheme to sell millions of dollars in diverted pharmaceuticals to unwitting pharmacies and consumers.

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

From the US DOJ, released October 18, 2019: Joshua Ryan Joles, the CEO of LLC Wholesale Supply, LLC, Mohammad Mehdi Salemi, the CEO of Wholesalers Group, Inc. and Wholesalers Group, LLC, and bank account holders Angel Caminero Alvarez and Leonides Herrera were indicted on charges of money laundering, committing violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and mail fraud, related to their alleged participation in a scheme to sell diverted pharmaceuticals to unwitting pharmacies and consumers. U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida stated, “The allegations set forth in this scheme strike at the peace of mind we should all feel when we buy prescription drugs from a pharmacy. We all expect and should rest assured knowing that the drugs we are buying are safe, effective, and properly stored and handled. Today and whenever necessary, we will continue to strike back at those who seek to profit by robbing the public of that peace of mind through brazen, criminal schemes.” According to the indictment, Joles and Salemi are alleged to have purchased and distributed millions of dollars in diverted pharmaceuticals, which are prescription drugs illegally trafficked in a secondary or underground market (Case No. 19-20674-CR-Gayles). The indictment explains that the diverted pharmaceuticals are not controlled substances, but rather, high priced medical drugs used to treat such conditions as mental illness, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and cancer. They are branded drugs, produced by the original pharmaceutical developers as opposed to lower-priced generic drugs, but are acquired unlawfully -- through fraud, pharmacy burglaries, and cargo thefts. Joles and Salemi are alleged to have acquired such drugs in large quantities, at a cost well-below normal wholesale prices, and then introduced the diverted drugs back into the legitimate marketplace. The indictment further alleges that, because the pharmaceutical distribution system is regulated, to get diverted drugs back into the market, the diverters must, among other things, establish seemingly legitimate wholesale companies and bank accounts, produce fraudulent paperwork, and professionally package and ship the medicines to their pharmacy customers. Joles and Salemi are alleged to have produced or caused the production of fraudulent paperwork, including falsified pedigrees, which are documents that identify the products and batch numbers of pharmaceuticals, describe their dates of manufacture and origin, indicate who purchased them, show when and where they were shipped, how they were purchased, and other information needed to trace them through the marketing chain. Utilizing these false pedigrees, Joles and Salemi allegedly sold or caused the sale of these diverted pharmaceuticals to unsuspecting pharmacies and their patients. Additionally, Joles and Salemi, with the assistance of Alvarez and Herrera, are alleged to have laundered money as part of this scheme, including conducting financial transactions to promote the carrying on of the scheme and to conceal the nature, source and ownership of the money. “This investigation into a South Florida based drug diversion group spanned the entire country, from California to Puerto Rico,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office. “It is truly an example of multiple federal and state agencies working together with private industry to take out of circulation thousands of bottles of potentially dangerous drugs, and also disrupt a money laundering scheme that moved millions of dollars a month through South Florida.” “U.S. consumers are put at risk when prescription drugs are diverted from the FDA-regulated supply chain and then returned clandestinely for distribution to the public, as there is no longer any assurance that the products are safe and effective for their intended uses,” said Justin D. Green, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations’ (FDA-OCI) Miami Field Office. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who put the public health at risk.” Herrera was arrested this morning and will have his initial appearance Monday afternoon, Oct. 21, 2019, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes. Joles and Salemi will have their initial appearances on later dates. Alvarez remains a fugitive. The prosecution was part of Operation Southern Hospitality, one 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 and money laundering enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement. On May 27, 2021, Joles pled guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic in medical products with false documentation and one count of conspiring to launder money. On July 30, 2021, Joles was sentenced to 76 months in federal prison. Joles is one of nine defendants originally charged in case no. 19-cr-20674, seven of whom have pled guilty and been sentenced. There are five more defendants facing charges in a second superseding indictment, and one fugitive. The charges against these five defendants are mere allegations. They are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-cr-20674.

Two CEOs of Wholesale Pharmaceutical Companies Indicted in Alleged Prescription Diversion Scheme

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A Miami federal judge has sentenced a wholesale pharmaceutical business owner to 103 months imprisonment for his role in a scheme to pass off expensive and delicate prescription medications illegally procured on the streets as ones that came directly from legitimate prescription drug manufacturers. The illegally obtained prescription medications to treat conditions like cancer, HIV, and psychiatric illness ended up in pharmacies and in the hands of unsuspecting patients. Mohammad Salemi, 35 years old, of Medina, Washington, operated a wholesale pharmaceutical business that obtained its supply from an underground health care fraud market. Criminals would obtain bottles of medications from health care fraud, including from patients who had prescriptions for the medicines but sold them instead of using them. During backstreet exchanges, many of which occurred in Miami, unmarked boxes filled with bottles of these illegally obtained medications were turned over to others who worked with Salemi. Many of the drugs involved required storage in controlled conditions, the types of which usually do not exist during street drug exchanges. Salemi fabricated documents to make it appear that the drugs were obtained directly from the manufacturers. Other participants in the scheme cleaned the bottles to remove patient prescription labels and make them look like legitimate medical products. Salemi shipped the drugs, with falsified papers, to another co-conspirator who had a pharmaceutical wholesale company in Arizona. The co-conspirator then sold the drugs to pharmacies, which sold them to unsuspecting patients. Salemi sold approximately $78 million worth of these medicines. He hid his profits and kept the scheme going through an extensive series of wire transfers and the use of shell corporations. In connection with his conduct, on October 13, 2020, Salemi pled guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to traffic in medical products with false documentation and money laundering conspiracy. He is one of seven defendants to plead guilty to charges in the indictment. Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office, and Justin C. Fielder, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations’ (FDA-OCI) Miami Field Office, made the announcement. FBI Miami and FDA investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank Tamen and Walter Norkin are prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture. You may find related court documents on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 19-cr-20674.

Florida paramedic and captain arrested for forging vaccine screening and consent forms for missing vaccines that were supposed to be given to firefighters.

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A Polk County Florida Fire Rescue paramedic, who is also a training officer, has been arrested during an investigation into the theft of three doses of the Coronavirus vaccine, meant to be administered to other PCFR first responders. The paramedic is accused of intentionally stealing three doses' worth of the Moderna vaccine, then forged the vaccine screening and consent forms. The paramedic told detectives he was directed to do so by his supervisor. The paramedic resigned on Friday, January 22, 2021, and was arrested on Monday, January 25, 2021. The investigation is ongoing.

A Physician’s Assistant employed through AMI expeditionary healthcare, a Reston based company, is being charged for stealing medications. The PA along with more american healthcare professionals went to the island of Curacao for a COVID-19 rapid response.

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A Physician’s Assistant employed through a Reston-based healthcare company, is being charged for stealing patient medications. The PA along with more American healthcare professionals went to the island of Curacao for a COVID-19 rapid response. The incident was reported on news TV 4 in Curacao.

12,000 exposed to Hepatitis C in seven states after stealing fentanyl and refilling syringes with saline to be later injected into patients.