Health Care Fraud

Court of Appeals Affirms Life Sentences for Pain Management Physician (and Creates Circuit Split)

September 20, 2011 | by Carl Lietz

In a federal white collar criminal case originating out of the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Division), the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed life sentences for a pain management physician convicted of various federal offenses. Among other things, the federal indictment against Dr. David Webb alleged that he unlawfully dispensed controlled substances in violation of federal law (21 U.S.C. § 841), and engaged in health care fraud in violation of § 1347 by issuing prescriptions that were not medically necessary. In connection with both the unlawful dispensing charge, as well as the health care fraud charge, the indictment alleged that Dr. Webb’s prescriptions resulted in the death of three of his patients.

At trial, both the Government and Dr. Webb presented expert testimony concerning the legitimacy of the controlled substance prescriptions at issue. According to the Government’s expert, Dr. Webb: (1) gave inadequate initial evaluations, including failing to obtain prior medical records and sub-standard physical exams; and (2) failed to refer patients to specialists to help manage their pain. In addition, the Government’s expert also testified that Dr. Webb also ignored signs of drug dependency in his patients and continued to prescribe drugs even when patients were “out of control with their self-taking of the medicine.” Accordingly, based on these and other factors, the Government’s expert opined that Dr. Webb’s prescribing practices were “dangerous, absolutely incredible,” and “clearly inconsistent with the usual course of medical practice and for other than legitimate medical purposes.” At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts but one.

On appeal, Dr. Webb raised a number of arguments, seeking to vacate his three life sentences on the resulting in death counts, as well as the other counts for which he stood convicted. Most notably, Dr. Webb argued that the trial court erred in the instructions that it provided to the jury on the three death related counts.

Chronic Pain, Federal Criminal Law, and the Prosecution of Pain Management Doctors in Federal Court

July 27, 2011 | by Carl Lietz

Earlier this year, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that federal prosecutors and federal agents are ramping up criminal investigations and prosecutions of so-called “pill-mills” in metro Atlanta. The statement (which was reported in the Atlanta Journal Constitution) was made during a “summit” on prescription drug abuse held here in Atlanta back in March.

Since that “summit”, federal prosecutors in Atlanta have secured indictments against doctors and others, claiming that these individuals have violated federal controlled substance laws. Indeed, as recently as last month, federal prosecutors indicted doctors, managers, and owners of “Atlanta Medical Group”, charging these individuals with a number of federal offenses. According to the press release issued in connection with the federal indictment, these individuals operated a “pill-mill”, illegally distributing oxycodone in violation of federal law.

There is no doubt that prescription drug abuse is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. However, it is equally true that chronic pain is also a serious problem in the United States. Indeed, just last week, the New York Times published an article discussing a sweeping review on this issue that was recently released by the Institute of Medicine – the medical branch of the National Academy of Sciences. According to that review, it is “estimated that chronic pain afflicts 116 million Americans, far more than previously believed.” The article goes on to describe that “[t]he toll documented in the report is staggering[,]” leading the chief of pain management at the Stanford School of Medicine (Dr. Sean Mackey) to conclude that number of people suffering from chronic pain “is more than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.”

Mateos: An Eleventh Circuit Reminder to Criminal Defense Lawyers to Brush Up on the Rules of Evidence

October 26, 2010 | by Finch McCranie, LLP

Last week the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in United States v. Mateos, a Medicare fraud case in which the Court held that exclusion of an exculpatory videotape was harmless error. This case is an important reminder to all trial lawyers to remain as well-versed as possible in the law of evidence to best represent our clients.

The defendants were employees of a clinic that purported to treat HIV patients. The clinic’s two doctors saw 70 patients per week, each of which was paid to complain about bleeding disorders. Every patient received either saline or a diluted dose of an expensive and medically unnecessary drug, and then the clinic billed Medicare for full treatments. The clinic received more than $8 million from Medicare during the five months that it was open.

Doctor Alvarez’s defense at trial was that she had not known about the fraud. She tried to introduce a video in which a member of the conspiracy assured her that the clinic was not involved in fraud to show that she had not been aware, but the video was excluded as inadmissible hearsay. The Eleventh Circuit held that the video was not hearsay because it was offered for a purpose other than the truth of the matter asserted. However, the Court held that the error was harmless because the defense had elicited the exculpatory content of the video through testimony.