An Indian-American doctor couple faces a five-year prison term after being charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for adopting unprofessional medical practises, like distributing controlled substances in their clinic described as 'pill mill', and billing the government for a whopping $8.7 million.
The doctor couple, Dr Arun Sharma and his wife, Dr Kiran Sharma, MD, practised in Baytown and Texas.
The charges carry a punishment of five-year imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
They allegedly prescribed 615,000 tablets of Vicodan, 66,000 tablets of Xanax and 26,000 tablets of Valium in less than a year. A single patient was prescribed more than 8,000 hydrocodone tablets within an eight month period. They used to charge up to $100 from the patients for each hydrocodone prescription.
The couple has also been charged for a conspiracy to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. The doctors allegedly billed the government for more than $8.7 million for fake injections.
While searching the couple's home, investigators found a whopping $ 700,000. Another amount of $ 816,000 was recovered from their bank safe deposit boxes. The FBI has termed it as a staggering dollar fraud, given the fact that there were only two people involved in the crime.
The FBI has charged them with various counts of fraud which include medical fraud, healthcare fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy, and unlawful dispensation and distribution of controlled substances.
The couple allegedly dispensed and distributed controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and not for legitimate medical purposes, FBI said.
Kiran, who was taken into federal custody on June 24, will remain in custody pending her appearance before a US Magistrate. A warrant has been issued for Arun's arrest, according to the FBI.
The complaint alleges that Kiran handled all the financial aspects of the fraud, including the inflow of funds by way of fees and the payment of bills.
