A Chesterfield, Mo.-based physician has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $2.87 million in restitution for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced in a June 20 news release.
What happened?
- In the first scheme, Stanley Librach, MD, conspired with Asim Muhammad Ali, MD, and chiropractor Jerry Leech to refer urine samples to Central Diagnostic Laboratory in exchange for illegal kickbacks, according to the Justice Department.
- The payments were funneled through entities controlled by Dr. Leech and Denis Mikhlin. CDL then billed Medicare and Medicaid for the tests. In a related arrangement, Dr. Ali paid the wages of Dr. Librach’s employees, effectively subsidizing his clinic in return for continued referrals.
- The second scheme involved Drs. Librach and Ali, along with Mr. Leech, issuing prescriptions for opioids such as oxycodone without legitimate medical justification. Instead of evaluating patients, the physicians spent several hours each week pre-signing prescriptions to be used during future clinic visits, according to the department.
- Many patients were never examined or assessed, and the doctors ignored clear signs of drug diversion, including red flags in toxicology reports. Despite these warnings, they continued prescribing and allowed pharmacies to seek reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.
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