Articles Posted in Pain Management

LOUISVILLE, KY. – How does a doctor get convicted of money laundering, health care fraud and doling out prescription drugs like jelly beans and then sentenced to 230 years in prison with a fine of $10.2 million? By not having a health care fraud attorney willing to ask his client the tough questions, nor one who will give his client the honest truth, or that will dig in for the fight and not accept the maximum sentence and fine for his client. That is what could happen to a Louisville doctor indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month.

After a year-long investigation by the police, the FBI, and DEA, the grand jury indicted Dr. George Kudmani.

The indictment alleges that the doctor would see more than 35 patients per day. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that new doctors average eight minutes per patient. Doctors who have been practicing for a number of years would probably need less time per patient. Thirty-five patients per day would be an easy figure to reach.

WESTON, FL (August 16 ) – At a news conference at DEA offices in Weston, FL, on Thursday regarding in the latest crackdown on South Florida pill mills – Phase II of the two-year Operation Pill Nation – it was announced that, seven doctors, three pain clinic owners at the Pompano Beach Medical Corp., and one owner’s relative have been arrested for crimes including racketeering, trafficking in a controlled substance, money laundering among others.

The allegations are that beginning in April 2010 and continuing up until as recent as last month, undercover investigators visited the clinic and were prescribed controlled substances despite the fact that none of the agents were suffering from any infirmity that required medication.

“The DEA does not target doctors; we target drug traffickers,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Mark Trouville said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA (July 6, 2011) – Armed with the new pill mill law, which took effect July 1, law enforcement officials have begun collecting narcotic pain killers and other addictive medications from doctors and clinics. The law effectively halted the dispensing of those medications by anyone other than a licensed pharmacist.
In a campaign deemed a “state of emergency” in combating prescription drug abuse by Florida Surgeon General H. Frank Farmer, Broward Sheriff’s office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials combined efforts with the Florida Department of Health to visit one of the first targeted medical facilities, the Wellness and Pain Centers of Broward. Approximately ten officials arrived at 9 a.m. to confiscate pills.
Any medical office or clinic that has ordered at least 2,000 pills per month since the beginning of the year or with known history of questionable practices, can expect to receive a visit soon. Leftover sealed pills can be returned to the distributor for credit or refund or turned over to law enforcement where the pills will be destroyed.

BROWARD and PALM BEACH COUNTIES, FLORIDA – Continuing the crackdown on pill mills in Florida, local, state and federal law enforcement officials confiscated medical and financial records from three alleged pill-mills in Broward and Palm Beach counties, one week after Governor Rick Scott signed the “Pill Mill Bill”.

Officers donned masks as “Operation Blue Spoon” raided Total Medical Express locations in Margate, Boca Raton and Palm Springs under the suspicions that the clinics operated without the proper licenses for pain clinics. Palm Beach County arrests included the pharmacy department manager, Marc Donegan and the office manager, Adelard LeFrancois; both charged with prescription-drug trafficking and failing to maintain required paperwork records to track movement of prescription drugs. Dr. Sherri Pinsely, the alleged pill supplier, was also arrested shortly after the raids on the same charge of failing to maintain required paperwork. The Clay County Sheriff arrested Richard McMillian of Delray Beach and Pasquale Gervasio of Parkland and charged the pair with operating the Orange Park clinic without a license.

At the time of these arrests, officials were looking for Dr. Arnold Aaron of Boca Raton, the manager of the clinics and a board-certified family practitioner and anesthesiologist, but learned the doctor had traveled to Michigan for surgery. Although previously led to believe the doctor was “on his deathbed,” officials discovered he was actually living at a retirement home. He was booked on a $250,000 bond into the Oakland County Jail in Michigan on the Clay County warrant. Aaron confessed knowledge of the charges and anticipated his arrest because other Florida doctors involved with pain clinics had been arrested. Aaron waived extradition back to Florida.

DESTIN, FLORIDA – Robert Bourlier, a Destin physician was convicted on 126 counts of illegal prescription writing and 17 counts of health care fraud during a three-week trial. Dr. Bourlier prescribed the medications in quantities that led his patients to abusing, misusing and eventually becoming addicted to the drugs. As a result of his malfeasance, two patients died.

More than 76 witnesses came forward to testify to the doctor’s actions of continuing to write prescriptions after he knew the patients had become addicts or in some cases, overdosed. Even after learning that patients were shopping for more drugs or selling them, he continued to write prescriptions.

Two patients died as a result of Bourlier’s drug dispensing practices: one from methadone and alprazolam and the other from hydrocodone and alprazolam. Because one of the deaths involves methadone, Bourlier faces a mandatory sentence of 20 years to life in prison. For each health care fraud conviction he could receive 10 years and for each count of illegal dispensing of prescription drugs, 20 years.