16 doctors, clinic owners sentenced in $250M opioid fraud scheme

Sixteen people, including 12 doctors, will face prison time and hefty fines for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited patients addicted to opioid painkillers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.

The Michigan- and Ohio-area defendants collectively distributed more than 6.6 million doses of medically unnecessary opioids to patients from 2007 to 2018 in exchange for unnecessary facet joint injections, a painful but highly reimbursed procedure that in some cases left the patients with lasting adverse conditions, according to court documents and evidence referenced by the DOJ.