A nurse practitioner and a surgical technician pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Vegas in connection with the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids and Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada reported in October 2018. The surgical technician pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and three counts of distribution. The nurse practitioner pleaded guilty to eight counts of distribution of a controlled substance and eight counts of health care fraud.
Investigators found that from January 1, 2018 to about May 3, 2018, the two conspired to distribute hydrocodone and oxycodone to patients without a legitimate medical purpose in exchange for cash payments. The technician, who had no medical or DEA license, met individuals in parking lots around the Las Vegas Valley and handed out opioid prescriptions written on the nurse practitioner's prescription pad using a physician's DEA number. The physician pre-signed the prescriptions and separately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
The nurse practitioner also defrauded Medicare and Medicaid between July 2016 and about December 2017 by writing lidocaine, modafinil and diclofenac sodium prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose. A pharmacy filled the prescriptions and paid the nurse practitioner approximately $30,000 for patient referrals, and the government said the programs were defrauded of approximately $3.7 million. The pharmacy's owner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and another nurse co-defendant was charged and set for trial.
The federal judge accepted the pleas and scheduled sentencing for January 10, 2019. A later local news report stated that the nurse practitioner was subsequently sentenced to more than six years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, with restitution ordered.