Courts laid the smack-down on illegal prescription drug distribution in metro Detroit in recent days, with two big busts. A total of 57 people have been charged this week in the two federal cases, including doctors, pharmacists, a physician assistant, and owners of pharmacies and home visit organizations.
The cases are part of a dizzying array of issues across the Midwest, where pills in Ohio and Kentucky were traced back to prescriptions written in the metro area. U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade held a press conference Wednesday to highlight growing connection between the white coats and black market.
MLive reports:
McQuade says Detroit is "an originating city" of prescription pills that are trafficked "all the way down into Kentucky, all the way down I-75."
"There have been theories as to why," she said, "There are a lot of people who are willing to give up their personal information for a few hundred dollars."
13 people were charged with Medicare and Medicaid fraud Tuesday in a case connect to charges against 26 other people in 2011. Another 44 people were charged in a seperate case.
In both cases, pharmacies billed Medicare and Medicade for bogus prescriptions, written by doctors recieving kickbacks, for patients who didn't need them or never filled them. Over $90 million of public and private insurance money was doled out for the millions of prescriptions, while drugs that ended up on the streets fetched millions more.
"The merger of health care fraud and drug trafficking is a disturbing trend that is not only robbing taxpayers, but also fueling addictions to prescription drugs," McQuade said. "The CDC has described prescription drug overdoses as a national epidemic. More people will die from prescription drug overdoses than die from gunshot wounds."
