WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2021) A pharmacist and co-owner of multiple compounding pharmacies pleaded guilty to charges involving $180 million in fraudulent billings of government and private healthcare systems, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.
"As part of this scheme, [Mitchell] Barrett adjusted prescription formulas to ensure the highest reimbursement without regard to efficacy. He solicited recruiters to procure prescriptions for high margin compounded medications and paid those recruiters commissions based on the percentage of reimbursements paid by pharmacy benefit managers and health care benefit programs," the Justice Department said in a press release.
According to court documents, Barrett participated in a scheme to defraud TRICARE, a healthcare program for the US military, and other health benefit programs by distributing medically unnecessary compounded medications, the release said.
The conduct allegedly resulted in more than $180 million in fraudulent billings, including more than $50 million paid by Federal health care programs, the release added.
Barrett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. Co-defendant Thomas Shoemaker, who pleaded guilty earlier in the month, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to the release.
