Scott Roix, as well as HealthRight, LLC, Health Savings Solutions, LLC, Vici Marketing, LLC, and Vici Marketing Group, LLC, have agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act through their telemedicine scheme.
According to the Department of Justice, Roix and the marketing companies fraudulently obtained insurance coverage information from patients with the purpose of prescribing them unnecessary pain cream products. The defendants then sold the prescriptions to numerous pharmacies, profiting from payments that were determined by the volume and value of the prescriptions. Roix and the marketing companies disguised the sale of these prescriptions by noting them as marketing services in their financial records.
As part of the telemedicine scheme, Roix and the marketing companies targeted consumers across the country, convincing them to divulge their insurance information to what they thought was a trusted entity. This scheme represents one of many attempts by scammers to utilize telemedicine for fraudulent activities. The elderly community is particularly prone to this method of fraud, and as a result has been impacted significantly.
“Telemedicine is a valuable service for our citizens, but it must not be abused. We will take action against individuals who break the law to make a profit at the expense of our federal healthcare programs and ultimately at the expense of the American taxpayer.”, stated U.S. Attorney Overbey.
Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General in Atlanta, also commented on the case, “Telemarketing fraud is a major threat to the integrity of the Medicare program,” He added, “Unscrupulous companies collect patient information then sell it to pharmacies and other medical providers in exchange for kickbacks.”
According to the settlement, Roix received payments from pharmacies including Synergy Pharmacy and Oldsmar Pharmacy, which resulted in the allegations represented in both a False Claims Act lawsuit and a criminal case in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
The whistleblowers were represented by Ryan D. Barack of Kwall Barack Nadeau PLLC.
