Two owners of a South Florida treatment center for infectious diseases, a physician at the center and a nurse who served as its administrator, were arrested for their roles in a costly Medicaid fraud scheme, according to an October 1, 2004 press release from the Florida Attorney General. The scheme involved billing for prescriptions for medications that were never dispensed and the creation of false medical records to conceal the doctor’s absence from patient treatment and office supervision. Medicaid investigators seized over $1.6 million in illegally purchased assets, including a 40-foot boat, an ocean-view condominium, and a Cadillac SUV.

This arrest was part of the Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s continuing probe into fraudulent billing practices initiated by dispensers of high-cost injection pharmaceuticals.

“High-cost injectable drugs are a popular target for fraud, because it is easy,” said Robin Mathias. For most drugs, the physician who prescribes the drug is independent from the pharmacy that is paid for the drug. With injectables, the doctor who prescribes the drug gets paid for the drug, and the drugs can be very expensive.

“I think it is interesting that Dr. David was living in Iowa while the alleged fraud was committed. Many people, including Medicaid officials, believe that large-scale frauds like this are exclusively big city problems,” said Mathias, “This case was found in Florida, but one of the perpetrators lives in Iowa. There is no reason to believe that he is not committing similar scams in Iowa and elsewhere.”

Four Arrested in 4.7 Million Medicaid Scheme. 01 Oct 2004. Tallahassee: Florida Attorney General.