Canh Jeff Vo, Health Care Fraud, Kentucky 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Canh Jeff Vo, a 45-year-old man from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, has been charged with health care fraud, mail fraud, misbranding, and smuggling, according to a 13-count federal grand jury indictment.

The indictment alleges that Vo, who owned and operated Bluegrass Women's Healthcare in Elizabethtown, committed the crimes between March 2008 and September 2009.

During this time, Vo allegedly inserted foreign, non-FDA-approved Mirena (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device) into patients. The Mirena IUDs were misbranded because their labeling was not in the English language, and they did not bear adequate directions for use.

Vo is also accused of submitting false claims for reimbursement from the Medicaid Program. Specifically, he allegedly billed the Kentucky Medicaid Program and other insurers as if he was administering the FDA-approved version of Mirena, at a greater cost, when he was actually administering a non-FDA-approved version of Mirena.

Additionally, Vo is charged with ten counts of mail fraud for utilizing the United States Mail to receive payment from the Kentucky Medicaid Program and private insurance companies for Mirena IUDs that were not approved for sale in the United States.

The indictment also alleges that Vo received, brought, and imported into the United States Mirena IUDs from various countries, including Canada, knowing that they were misbranded and unlawfully introduced into interstate commerce.

If convicted at trial, Vo faces a maximum of 233 years in prison, a maximum fine of $3,010,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lettricea Jefferson-Webb and is being investigated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control.

The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation only, and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdky/pr/owner-bluegrass-women-s-healthcare-elizabethtown-charged-health-care-fraud-mail-fraud