spencer pharmacist pays triple damages for prescription fraud
Contact: Peter Deegan
A pharmacist in Spencer, Iowa, who pled guilty in federal court to defrauding Medicaid and his own health insurance provider paid $330,455.79 yesterday to settle a civil False Claims Act investigation of his Medicaid fraud. The payment represents a recovery by the United States of triple the amount of damages to the Medicaid Program.
In a civil settlement agreement, David J. Easton, age 57, from Everly, Iowa, admitted that, from February 2004 through September 2006, he submitted 1063 false claims to the Medicaid Program seeking reimbursement for prescriptions and refills of prescriptions that were not authorized by doctors.
On September 17, 2010, Easton pled guilty to two counts of health care fraud, one count of money laundering proceeds of his fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. His sentencing will be set after a presentence report is prepared.
The civil case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Robert M. Butler and investigated by agents of the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services and the State of Iowa’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
