New York, April 17 (IANS) An Indian-descent doctor has been convicted of participating in a $2.3 million conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and of healthcare fraud, according to the US Justice Department.
Neil Anand, 48, was also convicted of money laundering on Tuesday in a federal court in Pennsylvania, the department said on Wednesday.
In the conspiracy to illegally distribute drugs, he issued pre-signed medical prescriptions for oxycodone that were used by interns to enable just nine patients collect 20,850 tablets, it said.
Oxycodone is an opioid painkiller that can be highly addictive and is one of the substances behind the drug epidemic sweeping the US.
Anand also issued “medically unnecessary prescription medications” in what prosecutors called “Goody Bags” through pharmacies he owned if they wanted to get the controlled drugs, and billed health insurance companies and government insurance plans for the unneeded medicines.
The insurance companies and plans paid $2.3 million for the medicines in the “Goody Bags”, the prosecutors said.
When Anand became aware of the investigation, he transferred about $1.2 million to an account in his father’s name and for the benefit of his minor daughter, to conceal the proceeds from the fraud, according to the prosecutors.
One of the government lawyers who prosecuted him was Arun Bodapati, who works in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Anand is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
He was originally charged in 2019 with four others, three of whom were described as medical graduates of foreign universities without licence to practice medicine in the US.
On December 14, 2017, an Indian-American doctor was arrested on 39 charges of unlawful distribution of prescription opioids and healthcare fraud, officials said.
The cardiologist was based in the US state of Nevada.
The 58-year-old doctor allegedly prescribed opioids such fentanyl, hydrocodone and oxycodone. Opiods are substances which act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects.
Cardiologist Devendra Patel allegedly prescribed the aforementioned drugs without legitimate medical cause on a routine basis from May 2014 to September 2017, according to an announcement made by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other law enforcement officials.
The accused, Devendra Patel, had appeared in a federal court in Reno city of Nevada and pleaded not guilty, the US media reported.
–IANS
al/khz
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
