Mr. Mikhlin pleaded guilty to felony counts of conspiracy, obtaining opioids by fraud and deceit, receiving illegal kickbacks after sending urine specimens to a laboratory for unnecessary testing and causing Medicare and Medicaid to pay $4.7 million for unnecessary prescription drugs and drug tests.
Prosecutors say Mr. Mikhlin worked with physicians to write illegal prescriptions for opioids and other drugs to patients who had no medical need for them. He also recruited patients and paid them so he could use their names on the fraudulent prescriptions. Prosecutors say he and his accomplices obscured the unlawful activities by creating files that falsely reported patients had been examined and were consistently monitored by the prescribing physicians.
Along with his sentence, Mr. Mikhlin was ordered to pay an undisclosed amount of restitution.
He was among 12 people, including two physicians and a chiropractor, indicted in 2020 in connection with the scheme. Six others have pleaded guilty and will face sentencing in March, according to the Department of Justice.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
CEO gets 15 years in prison for $150M healthcare fraud
Tenet must pay whistleblowing cardiologists $10M, court rules
Florida woman agrees to settle charges in $400M healthcare fraud case
Becker’s 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit is the top tier event that the people leading the future of pharmacy convene. This 3-day event is built specifically for Chief Pharmacy Officers and senior pharmacy leaders. The sessions examine the workforce, financial and clinical priorities shaping pharmacy today. Becker’s is where candid discussions flourish and new ideas thrive. Becker's 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit
