Lathrup Village Doctor Pleaded Guilty to Diverting Prescription Pills and Committing Health Care Fraud

A Lathrup Village doctor pleaded guilty today in federal court in Detroit to charges of conspiracy and unlawful controlled substance distribution, United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today. 

Schneider was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office.

According to court records, Dr. Afzal Beemath, 43, pled guilty to twenty (20) counts charged in a first superseding indictment, involving a conspiracy to illegally distribute highly addictive opioids.  The evidence revealed that from January 2013 through October 2018, Beemath, who owned and operated Afzal Beemath, M.D., P.C., which was marketed as a palliative care clinic in Lathrup Village, Michigan, prescribed more than 1.9 million dosages units of controlled substances.  Included in this was more than 803,000 dosages Oxycodone, 296,000 dosages of Oxymorphone and 66,000 dosages of Alprazolam (Xanax).  Beemath issued these prescription drugs outside the course of professional medical practice and without any legitimate medical need for the drugs so that they could be sold on the illegal street market.  These opioids carried a conservative street value of $22 million.

Oxycodone and Oxymorphone are two of the most diverted controlled substances in our area.  They are extremely powerful, addictive and in the opioid class that is easily abused, and can lead to addiction and eventual heroin use.  Michigan has seen devastating statistics relating to opioid drug overdoses in the last five years.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Regina R. McCullough and Brandy R. McMillion as part of the district’s efforts to address the nation’s opioid crisis.  The Eastern District of Michigan is one of twelve districts included in the Attorney General’s Opioid Fraud Abuse and Detection initiative.  The case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.