Prosecutors accused April Tyler, DO, of prescribing unnecessary prescription pain cream, scar cream, pain patches and vitamins to United Auto Workers union members, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Aug. 16. Dr. Tyler didn’t establish a valid physician-patient relationship with the union members or determine medical necessity for the prescriptions, rendering them unnecessary, according to the department.
Dr. Tyler billed health insurers more than $15,000 per prescription for the compounded pain and scar creams, according to the indictment. Prosecutors alleged fraudulent claims submitted to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan and Express Scripts totaled about $9.5 million. Dr. Tyler also fraudulently billed Medicare $800,000 for the prescriptions, according to the indictment.
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