President Donald Trump has vowed to both restore the rule of law in this country and solve the nation’s opioid crisis — and the Department of Justice (DOJ) just made a major move that involves both of those issues.
The DOJ recently unveiled criminal charges against 601 individuals, at least 100 of whom worked in the medical field, who were involved in opioid prescription and distribution schemes targeting health care programs that cost federal health care programs and insurers more than $2 billion in fraudulent costs.
A big announcement
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the recent takedown of the massive fraud scheme in a news conference on Thursday. This announcement was part of a broader, ongoing effort to expose individuals who have been exploiting and profiting off of the opioid abuse epidemic.
“This year, we are charging 601 people, including 76 doctors, 23 pharmacists, 19 nurses, and other medical personnel with more than $2 billion in medical fraud,” Sessions said.
“Much of this fraud is related to our ongoing opioid crisis — which is the deadliest drug epidemic in American history,” the attorney general continued. “Some of our most trusted medical professionals look at their patients — vulnerable people suffering from addiction — and they see dollar signs.”
Sessions revealed that nearly 200 doctors and an additional 220 medical personnel have been charged with opioid-related crimes since January 2017, with just 16 of those doctors being responsible for the illicit prescribing of roughly 20.3 million pills nationwide.
A special task force has already indicted more than 6,500 individuals for opioid-related crimes, and this latest crackdown netted another 162 individuals — 32 of whom are doctors — who were involved in the illegal distribution of opioid drugs.
More Medicare fraud
One example of the criminal fraud unraveled by this most recent investigation involved a doctor who had defrauded Medicare of more than $112 million while illicitly distributing more than 2.2 million doses of opioid drugs like fentanyl and oxycodone.
Another 13 individuals were charged in a fraud ring that siphoned $126 million away from a program intended to aid military health care.
“These cases are vitally important not only to the victims of these fraudsters, but to the entire country. Many of these fraudsters have stolen our tax dollars — and many have helped flood our streets with drugs,” Sessions said. “These are despicable crimes and we’re not going to tolerate them.”
The attorney general made clear that the DOJ is “just getting started” when it comes to fraud and opioid enforcement. He warned: “We are sending a clear message to criminals across the country: we will find you. We will bring you to justice. And you will pay a very high price for what you have done.”
[show_poll poll_id=529]
This is huge news in terms of cracking down on both the opioid abuse epidemic and health care-related fraud, two issues that have been wracking our nation for some time.
Hopefully, as Sessions stated, this is just a small part of a larger, still ongoing effort to bring justice to those who are abusing and exploiting the system.
837 Responses
Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!
wonderful post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector do not notice this. You should continue your writing. I’m confident, you have a great readers’ base already!
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me. Thank you!
The very next time I read a blog, I hope that it does not fail me as much as this particular one. After all, I know it was my choice to read, however I truly believed you’d have something helpful to say. All I hear is a bunch of crying about something that you can fix if you weren’t too busy seeking attention.
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch simply because I discovered it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss this topic here on your internet site.
Does your website have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some suggestions for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it expand over time.
I just couldn’t depart your website prior to suggesting that I extremely enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is gonna be back often in order to check up on new posts
Only wanna admit that this is extremely helpful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
This web site definitely has all the information I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I really like it when individuals come together and share thoughts. Great website, keep it up!
Hello there! This article couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I will forward this information to him. Fairly certain he’s going to have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and fantastic style and design.
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your website by accident, and I am shocked why this accident didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
Hey! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you
I blog quite often and I seriously thank you for your content. This article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your Feed too.
There are actually a variety of particulars like that to take into consideration. That could be a great level to bring up. I provide the thoughts above as basic inspiration but clearly there are questions just like the one you bring up the place the most important thing will likely be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if finest practices have emerged around things like that, however I am positive that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Each girls and boys really feel the affect of just a second’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.
The very next time I read a blog, I hope that it won’t disappoint me as much as this one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read, nonetheless I genuinely believed you’d have something helpful to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something you could possibly fix if you were not too busy looking for attention.
Thanks so much for giving everyone an extraordinarily superb chance to read critical reviews from this site. It is often so pleasurable and as well , jam-packed with a good time for me personally and my office colleagues to visit the blog at the least three times in a week to read the newest guidance you have. And definitely, I am certainly fulfilled considering the exceptional tactics served by you. Some 4 facts in this posting are unquestionably the simplest I have ever had.
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue along with your web site in internet explorer, may test this¡K IE still is the marketplace chief and a huge element of people will miss your excellent writing because of this problem.
Excellent blog post. I certainly appreciate this site. Continue the good work!
I love it when folks get together and share opinions. Great site, keep it up!
This is the fitting blog for anyone who desires to search out out about this topic. You realize a lot its virtually laborious to argue with you (not that I truly would needHaHa). You positively put a brand new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
This is a really good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise info… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
A lot of of the things you claim happens to be supprisingly legitimate and that makes me ponder the reason why I hadn’t looked at this in this light previously. This piece truly did switch the light on for me as far as this issue goes. However there is one particular position I am not too comfortable with and while I attempt to reconcile that with the central idea of your issue, let me see just what all the rest of your readers have to point out.Nicely done.
I think this internet site holds some real wonderful info for everyone :D. “Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” by Samuel Ullman.
You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I to find this topic to be actually something that I believe I would by no means understand. It seems too complex and very vast for me. I’m looking ahead on your subsequent publish, I¡¦ll attempt to get the hold of it!
Hello there, I think your web site might be having web browser compatibility problems. Whenever I take a look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however, if opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Aside from that, fantastic site!
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do believe that you should publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people don’t talk about these topics. To the next! Kind regards!!
Hey! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the superb work!
Your style is unique compared to other people I’ve read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this web site.
Saved as a favorite, I like your site!
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
Hiya very cool web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds also…I’m happy to seek out a lot of useful info right here within the publish, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing.
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is magnificent, let alone the content!
Thank you for all of your effort on this website. Kim takes pleasure in getting into investigations and it’s easy to see why. All of us know all concerning the lively tactic you provide invaluable information through your web site and foster response from other people on that situation plus our favorite princess is truly studying a lot of things. Take advantage of the remaining portion of the year. Your carrying out a brilliant job.
I’m usually to blogging and i really admire your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your web site and keep checking for new information.
An additional issue is that video games are normally serious in nature with the main focus on understanding rather than fun. Although, we have an entertainment aspect to keep children engaged, every single game is usually designed to develop a specific group of skills or curriculum, such as math concepts or scientific discipline. Thanks for your write-up.
Hi, I do believe this is a great blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to come back once again since I saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.
I view something genuinely special in this site.
Hello, you used to write magnificent, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!