Indian-origin doctor, who treated 9/11 patients, sentenced to 14 years for US healthcare fraud

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An Indian-origin doctor has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for healthcare fraud and unlawful distribution of controlled substances in US. The Pennsylvania-based doctor would often force his patients to accept bags filled with sedatives which were not even of use to them in order to claim insurance payments.

Neil K Anand was found guilty of healthcare fraud earlier this year. According to a release by the US Department of Justice, the 48-year-old has been ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution and over $2 million in forfeiture.

Dr. Anand conspired to submit false and fraudulent claims to health plans provided by Medicare, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Independence Blue Cross (IBC), and Anthem, for 'Goody Bags' of medically unnecessary prescription medications, which were dispensed to patients by in-house pharmacies owned by him.
In total, Medicare, OPM, IBC, and Anthem paid over $2.4 million in reimbursements.

In addition, the Indian-origin doctor also pre-signed prescriptions that allowed his interns - who didn't even have license - to prescribe medicines. As part of his plan to make patients accept the unwanted 'Goody Bags', Dr. Anand distributed Oxycodone outside normal medical procedures and without any legitimate justification.

An opioid painkiller that can be highly addictive, Oxycodone is one of the substances behind the drug epidemic sweeping the United States.

The probe reveals that unlicensed medical interns used to fill in prescriptions for controlled substances on blank forms pre-signed by Dr. Anand. Under this scheme, the doctor prescribed 20,850 Oxycodone tablets for several patients.

Upon learning that he is being probed, Dr. Anand transferred approximately $1.2 million into an account under a kin's name and for the benefit of a minor family member.

Denying all allegations, Dr. Anand and his family highlighted how he treated victims of 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001. "His compassion for patients was unfairly criminalised," the doctor's family said.

According to US District Judge Chad F Kenney, Anand had grown to be motivated by greed and illicit profits and not the needs of his patients. "For you, their pain was your gain. You were not focused during this period on treating your patients," Kenney said.

In April, Dr. Anand was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of money laundering, four counts of unlawful monetary transactions, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The Indian-origin doctor had also served as a physician in the US Navy.