Clinic Owner, NP Sentenced to Prison in Health Benefits Fraud Case

A Mississippi nurse practioner and former family clinic owner was sentenced today to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,375,692 in restitution for her role in a health benefits fraud scheme. Susan K. Perry, 58, of Grand Bay, Alabama, had pleaded guilty on June 15 to 1 count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Perry, a resident of Grand Bay, Alabama, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett of the Southern District of Mississippi. In additon to the sentence and restitution, Perry was ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release, following her time in prison.

Filed in October 2017, an initial 13-count indictment charged Perry with defrauding health care benefit programs that included TRICARE, a health care benefit program serving active U.S. military, veterans, and their families. As part of her plea, Perry admitted her role in the scheme.

According to the DOJ, Perry had a role in prescribing medically unnecessary compounded drugs to individuals who did not need the medications, including to some patients that were not examined first. Perry also admitted that she knew Advantage Pharmacy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, would submit claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, for compounded medications based on the prescriptions she signed, and that she expected the claims would be paid, officials with the DOJ said, in a prepared statement.

Beginning approximately January 2014 and continuing to April 2015, health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, reimbursed Advantage Pharmacy approximately $1,375,692 based on the claims submitted in connection with the compounded medications that Perry prescribed.

The FBI, IRS-CI, DCIS, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and other government agencies investigated the case.

Reference

Mississippi Nurse Practitioner and Clinic Owner Sentenced to Prison for Role in Compounding Pharmacy Scheme to Defraud Tricare [news release]. US Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs. Washington, DC; September 27, 2018: DOJ website. Accessed September 27, 2018.