The University of California is trying to shut down a health fraud scheme it claims targeted hundreds of students and stole nearly $12 million from the school.
Here are eight things to know.
1. UC said the alleged scheme began last fall and targeted students through the school's student health plan.
2. As part of the scheme, non-UC affiliated healthcare providers, including physicians, a nurse and a podiatrist, set up a company called California Clinical Trials LLC and used Facebook ads to invite students enrolled in the school's student health plan to participate in a CCT study for as much as $550 in cash, according to UC, which cites a complaint the school filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
3. UC said the scheme also involved CCT "recruiting" students at campus job fairs. The school in its court brief contends the students were promised marketing jobs at a pharmaceutical company if they provided their coverage and medical information and agreed to try multiple medications.
4. In both instances, UC contends the goal was to obtain students' coverage and medical information, which the healthcare providers, allegedly in on the fraud, used to write medically unnecessary prescriptions. The information was also used to dispense and bill for the medications.
5. The prescription medications at issue in the alleged health fraud scheme primarily included prescription-grade pain creams, according to UC.
6. Overall, UC alleges defendants stole almost $12 million from the school by writing fraudulent medical prescriptions in the students' names.
7. UC has notified law enforcement officials and regulatory agencies of the alleged fraud scheme and started notifying affected students. Additionally, the school said it plans to file a motion for a temporary restraining order early Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court "to immediately shut down the scheme."
8. "Our first priority is to our students," said John Stobo, MD, executive vice president for UC Health, in a prepared statement. "This needs to be immediately stopped. We have identified nine different healthcare providers who prescribed medications to these students, likely without any indication of physical exams or even a physician-patient relationship."