Lansing man sentenced to one year in prison for health care conspiracy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WILX) - A local pharmaceutical sales representative was sentenced to a year in prison.

U.S. Attorney Mark Totten announced Monday that Dimondale resident Daniel Brown was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison by U.S District Judge Robert J. Jonker on a health care conspiracy charge. The judge also sentenced Brown to three years of a supervised release after his prison sentence with a restitution totaling $1,267,418.00.

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In a press release, The Department of Justice (DOJ) said, “Brown’s conviction stemmed from an agreement to have expensive and medically unnecessary compounded pain creams and patches prescribed to MSU employees that were filled by pharmacies in Mississippi. Brown admitted soliciting a local physician to sign the prescriptions and splitting commission payments that the Mississippi pharmacies paid Brown for directing the prescription to their pharmacies.”

MSU’s health plan was then charged $2,000 to $3,000 by the pharmacies for each prescription. Prosecution for the people who operated the pharmacies and were held responsible in federal cases in Mississippi for more than $200,000,000 in claims paid for the medications. According to the press release, this resulted in illegal kickbacks paid to sales representative and physicians across the country.

“Health care fraud raises costs on consumers, hurts businesses, and can subject persons to unnecessary treatment,” said Totten. “Those who scheme to defraud our public and private health care providers, and those who pay and receive kickbacks to influence the generation of medical services, face aggressive prosecution, significant financial penalties, and the real prospect of prison.”

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