Montgomery doctor pleads guilty to unnecessarily prescribing opiates, health care fraud
A Montgomery doctor pleaded guilty to federal charges after he unnecessarily prescribed several different drugs as part of a "pill mill" operation, according to a U.S. Attorneys Office news release.
Gilberto Sanchez, 56, of Cecil, Alabama, pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug distribution conspiracy, health care fraud and money laundering charges in federal court after law enforcement learned that he was prescribing controlled substances, such a methadone, hydrocodone and fentanyl, to patients that didn't actually need the drugs, according to the news release. The operation was run out of Family Practice, a clinic in the 4000 block of Atlanta Highway.
"We depend on doctors to be part of the prescription drug abuse solution — not part of the problem. Dr. Sanchez’s greed-fueled pill mill put the lives of his patients and the integrity of federal health care programs at risk,” said Derrick L. Jackson, special agent in charge, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
Sanchez would have patients come in for unnecessary monthly examinations before they could refill their prescriptions, charging those visits to both public — including Medicare and Medicaid — and private insurance companies. Sanchez bought at least one vehicle and personal residence with the money he made from the operation.
Read more: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2017/11/28/montgomery-doctor-guilty-unnecessarily-prescribing-opiates-while-overcharging-public-insurance-progr/903503001/