What Happened
A nurse practicing in Las Vegas pleaded guilty to eight counts of distribution of a controlled substance and eight counts of health care fraud, the Department of Justice announced, and was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison.
From January to around May 2018, the nurse arranged with a surgical technician and a physician to give hydrocodone and oxycodone to patients without a legitimate medical purpose in exchange for cash, and wrote illegal prescriptions without a medical purpose Between July 2016 and December 2017, the nurse also wrote prescriptions for lidocaine, modafinil and diclofenac sodium without examining the patient and billed Medicare and Medicaid; the prescriptions were filled at Atlas Pharmacy, which paid roughly $30,000 in exchange for referrals. The nurse was sentenced in May 2019, will serve three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $3,749,121 in restitution.
What the Record Shows
Pleaded guilty to eight counts of distribution of a controlled substance and eight counts of health care fraud; sentenced to more than six years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,749,121 in restitution.
Why It Matters for Diversion Programs
This entry comes from a news source rather than a federal enforcement release, and it is recorded as reported: Alleged and admitted conduct: arranged with a surgical technician and a physician to give hydrocodone and oxycodone to patients without a legitimate medical purpose in exchange for cash, and wrote illegal prescriptions without a medical purpose; also billed Medicare and Medicaid for prescriptions for lidocaine, modafinil and diclofenac sodium without having examined the patient.. Board and news records are a lagging indicator - by the time a licensing authority or a reporter learns of a diversion, the diversion was normally detected internally first, which makes each entry a signal that inventory reconciliation, waste observation or dispensing oversight failed earlier.