Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the results of a two-week nationwide law enforcement action involving 193 defendants across 32 federal districts for their roles in health care fraud schemes. Over $230 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold, and other assets have been seized in connection with these cases.
"The Justice Department has been clear that we will bring to justice criminals who defraud Americans and steal from taxpayer-funded programs," Garland stated. He emphasized the department's aggressive approach to combating health care fraud that endangers lives for profit.
Garland outlined four fundamental principles guiding their efforts: protecting vulnerable patients, defending taxpayer-funded programs, ensuring full accountability by prosecuting perpetrators and seizing criminal proceeds, and using data analytics to keep pace with evolving fraud schemes.
In the Southern District of Florida, three owners of a pharmaceutical wholesale company were charged in a $90 million wire fraud conspiracy involving adulterated and misbranded HIV drugs. "Patients at times received bottles labeled as their prescription medication with entirely different drugs inside," Garland noted. One patient was unconscious for 24 hours after taking an anti-psychotic drug believed to be his prescribed HIV medication.
In Arizona, two wound-care company owners and two nurse practitioners were charged in a $900 million Medicare fraud conspiracy targeting elderly patients. The defendants allegedly applied unnecessary wound grafts to terminally ill hospice patients without proper coordination or treatment for infection. "Medicare paid the defendants more than $1 million per patient for these unnecessary grafts," said Garland.
Garland highlighted the importance of ensuring full accountability by not only charging those responsible but also seizing assets stolen from taxpayers. Tens of millions of dollars in assets were seized in the Arizona case alone.
The Justice Department is also addressing schemes exploiting telemedicine technology related to Adderall and other stimulants. Proactive data analytics led to charges against former executives of Done, a digital health care company involved in a $100 million scheme distributing medically unnecessary pills. "One defendant...was indicted for rubber stamping prescriptions without any medical review," Garland explained.
Garland mentioned broader actions being taken nationwide, including recent arrests linked to fraudulent Medicare claims investigated by prosecutors in Tennessee. He thanked various U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, DEA, and other federal partners for their contributions.
"We do this work because we know that health care fraud is not a victimless crime," Garland asserted. The Justice Department remains committed to disrupting schemes targeting vulnerable patients and defending taxpayer-funded programs from fraud while adapting strategies as healthcare fraud evolves.
Before concluding his remarks, Garland addressed the Supreme Court order in Moyle v. United States regarding emergency medical treatment under EMTALA guarantees essential emergency care irrespective of state laws: "Today’s order means that...women in Idaho will once again have access to the emergency care guaranteed to them under federal law."
He then invited HHS Deputy Secretary Palm to speak further on the matter.
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