Eleven people were indicted in a $2 billion telemedicine fraud scheme focused on orthotic braces and pain creams, according to the Justice Department.
The CEO and vice president of business development of a software and services company are accused of selling templated physician orders for orthotic braces and pain creams in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Several individuals were involved in a telemarketing operation across the U.S. and abroad to target elderly and disabled people with direct advertising to sell medically unnecessary medical equipment and prescriptions.
The defendants are accused of being a conduit for the telemarketers to coordinate illegal kickbacks and bribes to telemarketers that obtained physicians' orders for Medicare beneficiaries. The software obstructed Medicare investigations by not revealing the interactions with patients occurred remotely.