Oklahoma-based orthopedic surgeon Mark Stephen Wilson, M.D. and the United States have entered into an agreement resolving False Claims Act allegations.
Ortho Surgeon Pays $342,750 to Settle Kickback Allegations
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Dr. Wilson primarily practices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. He specializes in pain management and rehabilitation. In addition to Dr. Wilson, the allegations involved Brookhaven Specialty Pharmacy LLC, a pharmacy based in Norman, Oklahoma.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma issued a press release on the matter. Per the press release, “[f]rom February 2014 through September 2016, [Dr.] Wilson was alleged to have knowingly accepted significant payments from Brookhaven Specialty Pharmacy LLC in exchange for recommending and prescribing pain creams that were compounded and produced by the pharmacy.”
During that time, Brookhaven Specialty Pharmacy allegedly paid Dr. Wilson “‘medical director fees’ based upon an hourly rate.” However, the United States contends that the “medical director fees” were not fees and instead were “kickback payments for prescribing the compounded pain creams.”
Dr. Wilson purportedly wrote prescriptions for the compounded pain creams for patients insured under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA). Per its website, the FECA program “provides appropriate monetary and medical benefits to federal employees who have sustained work-related injuries or disease.”
As its name denotes, FECA is a federal program. Federal law prohibits physicians from receiving “kickbacks” when federal health care insurance is involved. According to the press release, “prohibitions against kickbacks are crucial to ensure that financial motives do not undermine the medical judgment of physicians and other health care providers.”
Dr. Wilson has agreed to pay the United States $342,750 to resolve the allegations against him. Namely, those allegations involving his “financial relationship” with Brookhaven Specialty Pharmacy as it relates to compounded pain creams.
In the press release, United States Attorney Clint Johnson commented, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring federal health care dollars are spent in accordance with the law and will not tolerate the abuse of federal health care programs.”
Johnson continued, “The government will use every tool at our disposal, including civil or criminal proceedings, to hold violators accountable.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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