Doctor gets prison time, $20M fine for fraudulent telehealth prescriptions
A doctor in Tennessee has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay nearly $20 million in restitution after being convicted of healthcare fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a statement, the agency said John R. Manning, MD, was sentenced to three years in prison for a scheme involving kickbacks received for telehealth prescriptions. Manning was indicted in July 2022 on nine counts, ultimately pleading guilty to the most serious charge: conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
According to the DOJ, the 64-year-old physician submitted more than $41 million worth of false claims to Medicare, which the federal government reimbursed for more than $19 million. After writing bogus prescriptions for unnecessary cancer genetic tests and medical equipment, Manning received approximately $812,000 in kickbacks from his co-conspirators.
Many of the orders sent through telemedicine companies were signed by Manning, “based on only a brief conversation with a patient, or often no conversation at all,” the DOJ added.
“This doctor ignored his oath to help people and bilked the taxpayers out of almost $20 million,” Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney, said in the statement. “Now he faces accountability for his actions, and the taxpayers get some justice for being taken advantage of.”
The scam took place over three years, between June 2016 and April 2019, prosecutors said. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local sheriffs all participated in the investigation and resulting conviction.
In addition to receiving three years behind bars, Manning has been ordered to pay back the $19,780,565.44 he received from Medicare, plus $812,303.41 as part of a criminal forfeiture.
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