Healthcare Fraud- Doctor Indicted in $5.1 Million Healthcare Fraud Scheme

If you have been indicted for Health Care fraud you need to make sure that your legal rights are protected. With over two decades of experience and a proven track record, Criminal Defense Attorney Sean Buckley is able to defend you against the Federal Government. Don't let a criminal record ruin the rest of your life.

Louisiana Doctor Indicted for Illegally Dispensing Over One Million Doses of Opioids and for $5.1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in New Orleans, Louisiana, returned an indictment on August 26, 2021 charging a Louisiana physician for his role in distributing over 1,200,000 doses of Schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone and morphine, outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, and for maintaining his clinic for the purpose of illegally distributing controlled substances. Today’s indictment also charges the physician with defrauding health care benefit programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, of more than $5,100,000, given that the opioid prescriptions were filled using health insurance benefits. According to court documents, Adrian Dexter Talbot, M.D., 55, of Slidell, owned and operated a medical clinic located in Slidell that accepted cash payments from individuals seeking prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances. In 2015, Talbot took a full-time job in Pineville, Louisiana, and although he was no longer physically present at the Slidell clinic, he pre-signed prescriptions to be distributed to individuals there without seeing or examining those individuals. In 2016, Talbot hired another practitioner who also pre-signed prescriptions to be distributed in the same manner at the Slidell clinic. With Talbot’s knowledge, individuals were filling their prescriptions that were issued outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose using their insurance benefits, thereby causing health care benefit programs to be fraudulently billed for filling prescriptions that were written without an appropriate patient examination or determination of medical necessity for the prescription. Talbot is charged with one count each of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances, maintaining a drug-involved premises and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, as well as four counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance Sept. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael B. North of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 20 years each for all other counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The FBI, HHS-OIG, VA-OIG, and the Louisiana Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating the case. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Federal Defense Attorney Sean Buckley has over two decades of experience and a proven track record representing individuals and companies accused of white collar crime. Noticeable win: recent "Not Guilty" verdict in a $120 Million Healthcare Fraud trial (one of the most significant defense verdicts during the federal government’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).

​ Attorney Sean Buckley is a protégé of famed criminal defense trial lawyer Dick DeGuerin, whose influence defined Buckley’s skillset and multi-dimensional approach to defending clients. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Buckley’s work has been favorably covered by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and numerous other national and local media outlets. Buckley also serves as lead editor of O’Connor’s Federal Criminal Rules & Codes, a legal reference book used by criminal lawyers across the United States. He earned his B.A. from Auburn in 1996 and his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 1999.

If you’re being investigated for a white-collar crime such as wire or mail fraud, health care fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, or any other state or federal white-collar crime, it’s important to get help from a qualified and experienced federal criminal defense attorney

In most cases, by the time you learn you’re under investigation, the Government has already begun building a case against you.

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