Two Michigan physicians and two others have been charged in a scheme to illegally distribute opioids worth more than $7 million, the Justice Department said in an Aug. 14 news release.
What happened?
- Shakeeb Chinoy, MD, of Bloomfield Hills; Sunil Manjila-Varghese, MD, of Ann Arbor; Rommel Harvey of Detroit; and Gregory Sparks of Detroit, were charged with conspiring to illegally distribute prescription drugs.
- From November 2023 through June 2025, Dr. Chinoy conspired with Dr. Manjila, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Sparks and others to issue thousands of opioid prescriptions to individuals who had no legitimate medical need.
- According to the indictment, Dr. Chinoy and Dr. Manjila issued prescriptions for more than 400,000 dosage units of Schedule II opioids with a conservative street value exceeding $7 million.
- The group also allegedly caused Medicare and Medicaid to be fraudulently billed for more than $1 million in medically unnecessary prescription medications.
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