Jerry May Keepers, Healthcare Kickback, Oklahoma 2023

A doctor from Oklahoma has been sentenced for accepting illegal kickback payments in return for writing prescriptions for compounded drugs, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

Jerry May Keepers, 69, of Kingwood, Texas, was sentenced to 36 months of supervised probation. Restitution will be determined at a later date. Keepers will pay no more than $1,518,180.46 in restitution according to his plea agreement.

The conviction stems from Keepers’ acceptance of a $25,000 payment from representatives of OK Compounding on January 22, 2014. The payment was intended to induce Keepers to refer prescriptions for expensive compounded drugs to the pharmacy. The compounded medications were filled, and claims were filed by the pharmacy, which were in turn paid for by federal healthcare programs.

The illegal payments were disguised through various sham business arrangements, including contracts where several physicians purported to serve as ‘medical directors’ or ‘consulting physicians’ for the pharmacy. Keepers and OK Compounding represented that Keepers had been paid for his services as a national spokesperson, medical director or national marketing director.

It is illegal to pay or receive ‘kickbacks’ in conjunction with federal healthcare insurance. Prohibitions against kickbacks are crucial to ensure that financial motives do not undermine the medical judgment of physicians and other healthcare providers.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General (OIG), IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Service-OIG, Department of Veterans Affairs-OIG, FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services-OIG, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melody Noble Nelson and Richard M. Cella are prosecuting the case.

The case serves as a reminder of the importance of upholding the integrity of the healthcare system and preventing financial motives from corrupting medical judgment.

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