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The U.S. Justice Department announced charges against 601 people
including doctors for taking part in health-care frauds.

The frauds allegedly resulted in over $2 billion in losses and
contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic in some cases.

The hundreds of suspects charged included 162 doctors and other
suspects charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing
addictive opioid painkillers.

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced charges
against 601 people including doctors for taking part in health-
care frauds that resulted in over $2 billion in losses and
contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic in some cases.

The arrests came in dozens of unrelated prosecutions the Justice
Department announced together as part of an annual health-care
fraud takedown.

The hundreds of suspects charged included 162 doctors and other
suspects charged for their roles in prescribing and distributing
addictive opioid painkillers.

Though many of the cases also involved a variety of schemes to
fraudulently bill government health-care programs, officials
sought in the latest crackdown to emphasize their efforts to
combat the nation’s opioid epidemic.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the epidemic caused more than 42,000 deaths from
opioid overdoses in the United States in 2016.

While the Justice Department has been conducting investigations
into some opioid manufacturers like OxyContin maker Purdue
Pharma, the cases stemming from the sweep did not focus on
wrongdoing by major corporations.

Many of the criminal cases announced on Thursday involved
charges against medical professionals who authorities said had
contributed to the country’s opioid epidemic by participating in
the unlawful distribution of prescription painkillers.

Those charged included a Florida anesthesiologist accused of
running a “pill mill;” a Pennsylvania doctor alleged to have
billed an insurer for illegally prescribed opioids; and a Texas
pharmacy chain owner and two other people accused of improperly
filling orders for opioids that were sold to drug couriers.

The Justice Department also announced other cases unrelated to
opioids, including schemes to bill the government health-care
programs Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare as well as private
insurers for medically unnecessary prescription drugs and
compounded medications.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/29/justice-department-charges-601- people-including-doctors-in-opioid-ab.html

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