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Press Release

McCracken County, Kentucky, Physician Charged With Fraudulent Possession Of A Controlled Substance, Wire Fraud And Making False Statements Related To Health Care Matters

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Kentucky

PADUCAH, Ky. – A McCracken County, Kentucky, physician was charged by federal Information today with the fraudulent possession of a controlled substance, wire fraud and making false statements related to health care matters, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.

According to the twelve-count federal Information, Sean P. McDonald, 46, devised a scheme to obtain prescription pain medication, while a treating physician at two Paducah, Kentucky, hospitals by falsely misrepresenting that he was removing medications for hospitalized patients, falsely possessing the controlled substances, and then falsely causing a request for payment to be sent from the two Paducah hospitals to the insurance carriers of the patients.

Specifically, it’s alleged that McDonald defrauded Lourdes Hospital and Western Baptist Hospital, by means of wire communication. From February 2009, through November 2010, McDonald caused a request for payment to be sent from Western Baptist Hospital and/or Lourdes Hospital, both located in Paducah, Kentucky, to patient’s insurance carriers.

During the same time period, McDonald made false and fraudulent statements to insurance carriers indicating that he had provided medication to patients when he had not.

Further, McDonald, as a prescribing physician with a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) registration number to issue prescriptions, wrote prescriptions for Dilauded, a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of his DEA registration, to patients, when in fact he never provided the controlled substances to the patient.

If convicted at trial, McDonald would face a combined maximum term of imprisonment of 113 years, a combined maximum fine of $3,000,000 and a three year term of supervised release.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lettricea Jefferson-Webb and Seth Hancock and is being investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The indictment of a person by a Federal Information is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.          

Updated June 22, 2016

Topic
Health Care Fraud