A former Toledo medical doctor was sentenced to five years in prison after previously pleading guilty to crimes related to the dispensation of 1,300 pills of Oxycodone and fraudulently billing Medicaid for more than $78,000, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Darrell A. Hall, age 54, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, health care fraud and a tax count.
“This sentence should send a message to any doctor who would use their prescription pad as a means to run a pill mill," Dettelbach said.
“This case is a clear example of a doctor putting greed above quality care for his patients," said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. "This joint state and federal investigation found that this doctor improperly prescribed the drug Oxycodone, and he also defrauded the Medicaid program by claiming he provided more services than he actually did."
Hall was licensed to practice medicine and operated a practice under the name “EDM Health Services, LLC." He was also a registered provider to Ohio Medicaid, which provides free health benefits to qualified low-income Ohio residents, according to court records.
Hall conspired with others between August 2008 through May 2009 to distribute 1,300 pills of 80 milligrams of Oxycodone for no legitimate medical purpose, according to court records.
He also fraudulently billed Ohio Medicaid in the amount of $78,113.73 between January 2007 and December 2009, according to court records.
He also failed to pay $97,384.88 in taxes that he owed to the Internal Revenue Service owed on behalf of EDM Health Services, LLC, between 2007 and 2010, according to court records.
The health care fraud charge was investigated by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Health Care Fraud Unit, while the other charges were investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit, Michigan, and the Internal Revenue Service, Toledo, Ohio. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph R. Wilson and Thomas P. Weldon.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
