[ad_1]
(Reuters) – The US Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against 601 people, including doctors, for taking part in health fraud that resulted in losses of more than $ 2 billion and to the epidemic of opioids.
The department stated that it was the largest fraud in health care fraud in the history of the United States and that 162 doctors and other suspects were charged with their roles in the prescription and distribution of addictive opioid analgesics.
"Some of our most trusted health professionals are watching their patients – vulnerable people with addictions – and they are seeing signs of the dollar," said US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The arrests took place the year of fraud supervised by the Ministry of Justice. The crackdown has resulted in the authorities issuing dozens of cases unrelated to alleged frauds that have cost more than $ 2 billion to government health care programs and insurers.
Authorities sought in the latest crackdown to focus on their efforts to combat the nation 's opioid epidemic. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, the epidemic has caused more than 42,000 deaths from opioid overdoses in the United States in 2016.
In a report released Thursday, the Department of US Health and Human Services Inspector General said that about 460,000 patients covered by Medicare received high amounts of opioids in 2017 and 71,000 were at risk of misuse or overdose.
These figures were slightly lower than those of 2016, but the report indicates that the high level of opioid use remains a concern. According to the report, nearly 300 prescribers had "dubious prescriptions" that deserved further examination.
Several of the criminal cases announced on Thursday involved charges against health professionals who, according to authorities, had contributed to the epidemic of opioids in Canada. participating in the illegal distribution of prescription painkillers.
Cases included charges in Texas against a chain store owner and two other people accused of using fraudulent orders to fill group orders of more than one million hydrocodone tablets and oxycodone sold to drug couriers.
"The perpetrators are really despicable and greedy people," said US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar at a press conference.
The Department of Justice also announced other unrelated opioid cases, including billing programs for Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare public health programs as well as private insurers for prescription drugs. medically unnecessary prescription and compound medications.
Report by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown
Source link
