Physician Is Among Those Indicted in Phony Prescription Scheme

A Detroit-area physician is among the clinicians indicted in an alleged scheme to overprescribe numerous commonly abused drugs. Asm Akter Ahmed, MD has already been stripped of his license to practice medicine based on charges that he wrote prescriptions destined for four co-conspiring pharmacists, who then fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield for the medications—some of which were never even dispensed. The estimated cost of the operation, which ran from 2011 through 2017, could be as high as $5 million. The activity was first detected by Medicare, in part because insurance companies were being billed for providing medications to people who were deceased, the indictment alleges. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of $250,000. The case serves as a reminder to urgent care operators that utmost security must be maintained at all times, and that systems in place are adequate to prevent or detect inappropriate prescribing.