By Shweta Jena
A 48-year old Indian origin doctor, Neil Anand, was convicted of conspiracy, health care fraud, money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions in the federal court in Pennsylvania in April this year. He is also convicted of a $2.3 million conspiracy involving illegal distribution of Oxycodone and is sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty.
Oxycodone is an opioid painkiller that is highly addictive and one of the substances behind the drug menace in the US.
In addition to receiving a 168-month prison sentence, Anand of Bensalem was also forced to pay more than $2 million in forfeiture and more than $2 million in restitution, or around Rs 17.6 crore.
Restitution makes up for victims’ monetary losses. In this instance, he defrauded private insurers and health insurance programs like Medicare, and forfeiture permits the government to take possession of assets obtained via illegal means.
According to a statement released by the US Department of Justice on Tuesday, he planned to submit fraudulent and false claims to health plans offered by Medicare, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Independence Blue Cross (IBC), and Anthem for “Goody Bags” of prescription drugs that were medically unnecessary and were given to patients by Anand-owned in-house pharmacies.
According to the report, Anand was also going to hand out oxycodone outside of the standard medical procedure and without a valid medical reason to persuade people to accept the unwelcome Goody Bags.
Unlicensed medical interns issued controlled medications using pre-signed blank prescriptions from Anand as part of the program. According to court documents, Anand only prescribed nine patients more than 20,000 oxycodone tablets.
Anand transferred about $1.2 million into an account under a relative’s name and for the use of a minor relative in order to hide the fraud’s proceeds after discovering he was being investigated.
He had dedicated his life to helping people, including assisting victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City in 2001 and later working as a doctor in the US Navy. Anand and his family told the court on Tuesday that his actions were motivated by compassion for his patients and had been falsely depicted as criminal.
According to the article, US District Judge Chad F. Kenney stated that he thought Anand had been more driven by illegal gains and avarice than by the needs of his patients.
Kenney remarked, “For you, their pain was your gain.” “You did not concentrate during this period on serving your patients,” the judge stated.