NASHVILLE – United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis recently announced criminal charges against four defendants in connection with alleged schemes to defraud Medicare. The charges stem from schemes to bill Medicare for medically unnecessary genetic tests, DME, and medications that were procured through kickbacks used to obtain doctors’ orders and patient information.
According to a Department of Justice press release, the following individuals have been charged in the Middle District of Tennessee:
James Brandon “Brady” Washburn, 44, of Franklin, Tennessee, and Robert Houston McDowell, 43, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, were charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay and receive health care kickbacks and paying and receiving health care kickbacks, in connection with their role in selling doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary genetic tests, medications and durable medical equipment (DME) to laboratories, pharmacies and DME companies.
The defendants also owned and operated their own DME companies in Franklin and Brentwood, Tennessee, and bought doctors’ orders for orthotic braces and submitted claims for medically unnecessary items to Medicare. The defendants obtained the orders by paying kickbacks and bribes to purported telemedicine companies and marketers in exchange for doctors signing orders for DME.
The indictment alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators received over $1 million in kickbacks for selling doctors’ orders to laboratories, pharmacies and DME companies; that they submitted and caused to be submitted, through their DME companies, more than $6 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME; and that their DME companies were paid over $2 million on those claims.
“Fraud and abuse continue to plague our federal health care programs and divert funds away from deserving patients,” said Leventis, United States attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. “As United States Attorney for the nation’s health care capital, I am proud of my office’s leadership on health care fraud enforcement and I am very appreciative of Attorney General Garland highlighting our efforts during his remarks earlier today.”
“It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a corporate executive or medical professional employed by a health care company, if you profit from the unlawful distribution of controlled substances, you will be held accountable,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will bring to justice criminals who defraud Americans, steal from taxpayer-funded programs, and put people in danger for the sake of profits.”
