An Indian-origin physician in the United States has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for running a large-scale health care fraud and opioid distribution operation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
Dr. Neil K. Anand, 48, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, was convicted in April 2025 on multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, unlawful distribution of controlled substances, money laundering, and related offenses.
According to the DOJ, Anand and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and private insurers such as Independence Blue Cross and Anthem.
The claims were tied to “Goody Bags,” packages of medically unnecessary prescription drugs dispensed to patients through in-house pharmacies he controlled. The fraudulent billing resulted in losses exceeding $2.4 million.
To push patients into accepting these packages, Anand also conspired to unlawfully prescribe oxycodone. Prosecutors said unlicensed interns used blank prescriptions pre-signed by him to issue controlled substances. Court records show Anand himself prescribed more than 20,000 oxycodone tablets to just nine patients.
Even after learning he was under investigation, Anand attempted to conceal proceeds of the fraud by transferring about $1.2 million into an account under a relative’s name for the benefit of a minor family member.
He was sentenced to 168 months in prison and ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution, along with more than $2 million in forfeiture. Restitution compensates defrauded insurers, while forfeiture allows the government to seize assets obtained through criminal activity.
What did the judge say?
During sentencing, Anand and his family insisted his actions had been misrepresented and claimed he acted out of compassion. He cited his work treating 9/11 victims in New York and later service in the U.S. Navy, telling the court: “The law has spoken for now, but the deeper questions remain: What is healing? What is justice? Where's the line between mercy and misconduct?”
Anand argued he had sought to treat patients in “real, relentless, ravaging pain,” and that decisions later deemed malpractice had been made out of mercy.
But US District Judge Chad F. Kenney rejected this defense, stating Anand had placed profits above patients: “For you, their pain was your gain. You were not focused during this period on treating your patients.”
In addition to conspiracy charges, Anand was found guilty of three counts of health care fraud, one count of money laundering, four counts of unlawful monetary transactions, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
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