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Nurse Practitioner Caught in Compounding Pharmacy Scam
A Mississippi-based nurse practitioner, Susan K. Perry, 58, of Grand Bay, Alabama, has pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, the health care benefit program serving U.S. military, veterans and their respective family members.
Perry pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett of the Southern District of Mississippi. She is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Starrett on Sept. 20.
As part of her plea, Perry admitted her role in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by prescribing medically unnecessary compounded medications to individuals who did not need the medications, sometimes without first examining those individuals. The scheme involved Advantage Pharmacy, based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which submitted claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, for compounded medications based on the prescriptions Perry signed.
From approximately January 2014 through April 2015, health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, reimbursed Advantage Pharmacy approximately $1,375,692 based on the claims submitted by Advantage Pharmacy in connection with the compounded medications that Perry prescribed.
The FBI, IRS-CI, DCIS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and other government agencies investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Katherine Payerle and Jared Hasten of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Helen Wall of the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Justice Department and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide and has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion since its inception in March 2007.
Perry’s guilty plea is a significant blow to the compounding pharmacy scheme, which has been a major target of law enforcement efforts in recent years. The case highlights the importance of vigilance in preventing and detecting healthcare fraud, which can have serious consequences for patients and the healthcare system as a whole.
Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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