Prosecutors Say Telemed Companies Paid Doctor to Write Compound Rx

Tuesday, November 20, 2018 | 0

A Burlington, New Jersey, doctor has been charged in a scheme that utilized telemedicine to prescribe medically unnecessary compounded drugs, federal prosecutors announced.

Dr. Bernard Ogon, 45, was arrested Friday and charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud after FBI agents and other federal investigators found that several telemedicine companies had paid Ogon to prescribe "exorbitantly expensive" compounded pain creams and other ointments, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said in a bulletin.

The scheme bilked insurers out of more than $20 million. At least $3 million of that came from Tricare, the health care benefit program for members of the military, veterans and their spouses.

The telemedicine companies would set up a remote video connection with patients, then fill out prescriptions completely and select the compounds to be included before Ogon ever saw them, prosecutors said. Ogon allegedly signed the scripts without establishing a doctor-patient relationship, without speaking with the patients or conducting any kind of medical evaluation, authorities said.

The doctor also signed prescriptions for patients in states where he was not licensed, the U.S. Attorney said. One telemedicine company paid Ogon $20 to $30 per prescription. 

Ogon was released on $500,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.