Jeffrey Friedlander, MD, has been sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay more than $317,000 in restitution for illegal distribution of prescription pain medication and Medicare fraud, according to a Bradenton news report.
Dr. Friedlander, who practiced out of Neurology and Pain Center, which has locations throughout the state of Florida, allowed unlicensed employees to prescribe controlled substances without his supervision. The unauthorized employees would use blank prescriptions that Dr. Friedlander pre-signed, according to the report.
Many of the patients who received the illicit prescriptions were issued controlled substances without medical examination, proper diagnosis or being offered alternative treatment options. All defendants involved were aware that the patients were misusing or abusing the controlled substances, according to the report.
Additionally, court documents show that between 2005 and 2009, Dr. Friedlander and his business associated filed false claims to Medicare for services that were never rendered. The two conspired to falsify information in patients' files to support the fraudulent claims to Medicare, according to the report.
Read the Bradenton news report about Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander's sentence.
Read other coverage about physician fraud:
- Prosecutors Seek Life Sentence for Kansas Family Practitioner, Wife for Healthcare Fraud, False Prescriptions, Other Allegations
- Washington Releases Statement on Disciplinary Action Taken Against Physicians Engaging in Fraud
- New York Podiatrist guilty of Medicare Fraud, Sentencing Delayed Due to New Charges
Dr. Friedlander, who practiced out of Neurology and Pain Center, which has locations throughout the state of Florida, allowed unlicensed employees to prescribe controlled substances without his supervision. The unauthorized employees would use blank prescriptions that Dr. Friedlander pre-signed, according to the report.
Many of the patients who received the illicit prescriptions were issued controlled substances without medical examination, proper diagnosis or being offered alternative treatment options. All defendants involved were aware that the patients were misusing or abusing the controlled substances, according to the report.
Additionally, court documents show that between 2005 and 2009, Dr. Friedlander and his business associated filed false claims to Medicare for services that were never rendered. The two conspired to falsify information in patients' files to support the fraudulent claims to Medicare, according to the report.
Read the Bradenton news report about Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander's sentence.
Read other coverage about physician fraud:
- Prosecutors Seek Life Sentence for Kansas Family Practitioner, Wife for Healthcare Fraud, False Prescriptions, Other Allegations
- Washington Releases Statement on Disciplinary Action Taken Against Physicians Engaging in Fraud
- New York Podiatrist guilty of Medicare Fraud, Sentencing Delayed Due to New Charges