Five local medical professionals ensnared in $800M opioid crackdown

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The Pain of Doing Time –

Sept. 26, 2019 – Seventeen local defendants, including five medical professionals, are among those ensnared in a coordinated health care fraud enforcement action across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., involving more than $800 million in loss and the distribution of over 3.25 million opioid pills in so-called pill mill clinics, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday … The announcement comes a year after federal officials formed the Newark/Philadelphia Regional Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which targets opioid-related wrongdoings. The joint law enforcement effort is designed to bring together the resources and expertise of the Health Care Fraud (HCF) Unit in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Additional partners are the FBI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.