Uh oh... Michigan doc OUT and federal scam with subsys

http://www.abc12.com/story/25457587/saginaw-county-doctor-accused-of-health-care-fraud-distribution-of-controlled-substances

Classy guys. Way to run a clean business.


Please defend this. Please try.

 

Crickets after 71 views. Hmm. That light at end of the tunnel is a train friends. It's been a good ride.

 

KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP, MI — A Saginaw Township neurologist is under federal investigation, accused of defrauding Medicare to the tune of nearly $7 million.

Dr. Gavin Awerbuch, whose practice is at 5889 Bay in Kochville Township, was arraigned in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, May 6, on charges of health care fraud and distribution of controlled substances.

The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service are investigating Awerbuch, saying he prescribed unneeded medication to patients and billed Medicare and private insurers for tests he didn't conduct.

In a five-year period, Awerbuch collected six times as much money from Medicare than the nearest U.S. prescriber of a controlled drug to treat cancer pain, according to a May 2 affidavit from a federal investigator.

The U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit issued an arrest warrant for Awerbuch on May 6.

Awerbuch is free on a $10,000 bond and must appear in federal court at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 27. The conditions of Awerbuch's bond state he cannot prescribe controlled substances, bill Medicare or other federal health care programs and must surrender his concealed pistol licence and passport.

The 39-page affidavit from Marc Heggemeyer, a special agent for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, showed police conducted undercover operations from 2011 to 2013 while investigating the neurologist.

Medicare paid Awerbuch $6.9 million from Jan. 1, 2009, through Feb. 6, 2014, for Subsys he prescribed. The next highest amount a U.S. prescriber received was $1.6 million.

"Awerbuch is responsible for approximately 20.3 percent of the Subsys prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide during this time," the affidavit stated.

He wrote 1,283 prescriptions for the drug in five years, while the next closest prescriber wrote 203 prescriptions, the complaint stated.

Subsys is an opioid used to relieve chemotherapy-induced nausea and pain. The Food and Drug Administration requires the drug be prescribed through a management program because of the risk for addiction, abuse and overdose, the affidavit stated.

Awerbuch also collected more than $5 million in the past five years by billing insurers for procedures he did not conduct, such as nerve conduction studies and needle electromyographies, the affidavit states.

Undercover visits

Undercover Lansing police officers visited Awerbuch seven times from April 2011 to May 2013.

For those visits, Awerbuch collected $4,973.08 from Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Michigan for the procedures and treatments, according to the affidavit.

Officers, who visually recorded treatments, reported Awerbuch did not sterilize the needle for the needle electromyography treatment or wipe down the patient's leg or foot prior to treatment, nor did the officers receiving treatment report feeling electric shock during the two- to three-minute treatments.

According to the affidavit, a neurologist who specializes in such treatments said Awerbuch could not have conducted the exams because they generally take 20 to 90 minutes.

On one visit, an undercover officer asked for a Vicodin prescription and attempted to bribe Awerbuch for the drug with $1,000. The officer told Awerbuch he would sell the drug to coworkers.

Awerbuch refused the bribe and asked the officer not to sell Vidodin again. He also asked if the officer was a Drug Enforcement Administration for FBI agent. The officer said he was not, and Awerbuch issued him the Vicodin prescription.

During a later visit, Awerbuch proscribed Subsys to the officer even though the officer had not been diagnosed with cancer.

— Lindsay Knake covers health for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.

 

Why is everyone so quiet?? Where's all your bravado and pride?

 

SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders With Losses on Their Investment in Insys Therapeutics, Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline -- INSY



0 0 0 23
February 02, 2014 01:00 | Source: Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics, Inc. ("Insys" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:INSY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of Arizona, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Insys between May 1, 2013 and December 12, 2013 both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). This class action seeks to recover damages against the Company and certain of its officers and directors as a result of alleged violations of the federal securities laws pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Insys securities during the Class Period, you have until February 14, 2014 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, x237. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

Insys is a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes innovative supportive care products, primarily intended to assist cancer patients cope with the symptoms of their disease and treatment or therapy. The Company's principal source of revenues is through sales of Subsys, a sublingual spray for managing cancer pain.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business and operations. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements concerning, and/or failed to disclose, among other things that: (i) the Company engaged in illegal and/or unethical marketing of Subsys; (ii) the Company was exposed to potential fines and other disciplinary actions as a result of its Subsys marketing practices; and, (iii) as a result, the Company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On December 12, 2013, after the market close, the company announced that, "it has received a subpoena from the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") in connection with an investigation of potential violations involving HHS programs. The subpoena requests documents regarding Subsys, including Insys' sales and marketing practices relating to this product." On this news, the company's shares fell $7.73 per share, to close at $37.55 per share, a one day drop of over 17%, on high volume.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and San Diego, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP
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This is what you get when you have a "Cost efficient Sales Force"….They sell OFF LABEL because they don't know any better.

I know there have been many good reps who have been forced out because they were doing the right thing and were being compared to reps who were BREAKING THE LAW!

Crickets nothing but Crickets.

 

Same law firm is after Galena. Get in line chumps!

 

Not talking about galena bilking federal plans. Talking about insys. Cheats and liars and caught now. Feds will not let this go. Many will be chopped.
Karma. It's a bitch insys. Now your reps can go back to stripping on the pole and Taco Bell.

 

Feds will work their way right down that list. Starting at the top. This is just the beginning of the end for us.

 

Stock taking a beating today :/

 

This company is under major investigation right now.. Rumor is they were sending reps in to do prior authorizations to docs offices (reviewing patient files and switching them over from other fentanyls to subsys) which is a total hppa violation. Sales reps are not supposed to see patient files. The docs are prescribing this stuff for everything.
Not sure if this is true or not but there is a rumor that 3 patients from a Florida docs office died within a couple weeks of each other after all being prescribed subsys. Wonder if those deaths were reported to hhs? fda?

 

Florida? Reported to Pipko.

 

Rogue doctor breaks the law for personal gain and you emphatically jump to INSYS doing wrong? Sounds like you have a personal axe to grind.

 

watch the video, MI was just the start. More than one MD out there doing this.

 

Rogue doctor? That's pretty funny. Obviously you work for insys.
7 million dollars billed for subsys is fact. I'm pretty sure the company noticed the revenue considering this "rogue doctor" represented 20% of all subsys sales in the US.
The reps sleeping with prescribers, employed by offices and working for insys and processing prior auths among the other tactics. This isn't being made up. Many subsys prescribers have personally told me this (while simultaneously hitting on me and telling me they would prescribe Fentora). No wonder offices and hospitals are banning industry. Make a sale at any cost?
Um no thanks. When the reps who are dismissed come looking for employment in pharma or device, the stain on their résumé will outshine the sales "achievements" they had. This is a transitional industry and its small. Little Caesars is still accepting applications.

 

Your claim that I "obviously work for Insys" proves you love to jump to conclusions based on pure speculation. I'm a retired teacher who invested in the CO because they're local and I love their mission and tech. I got my ass handed to me today and stumbled on this thread looking for answers. The accusations and rhetoric in here reflect personal animosity toward the CO and not fact. People were screaming about similar issues when Insys itself was being investigated but so far nothing has come of it.

 

Ok. Great. You're a retired teacher. Was it not you that stated I must have an axe to grind among other comments? Since conclusions are being jumped to and all.
Well. You're not out in the sales field selling along side this band of sleaze bags. You're not being hit on and asked for sex in exchange for prescription.
You like insys's mission and tech? Their mission. Sales at all costs.
The rogue doctor gained personally and so did the company with full knowledge. These are extremely scrutinized drugs with lots of paperwork for insurance. They knew.
Their tech? Very few drugs are in a spray technology. Oral therapy/pills are gold standard for a reason. The drug is alcohol based which comes with a huge warning specific to this drug in cancer patients due to mucositis (cancer patients have huge problems with this so it really hurts the argument to use it in that patient which is the actual indication for all of these drugs.
They get their business through pain docs and family practice and mid levels not break through cancer pain.
If you're an investor and had your ass handed to you. Your fault for not researching and seeing this coming. Teva doesn't do this. Robust oncology partners. Galena doesn't do this. Oncology partners.

 

+1000, well said. INSYS is a joke their fall will be legendary

 

You say "so far nothing has come of it" in regards to INSYS investigation. Your right, SO FAR.
The investigation on this doctor took 2 years to gather info before they took him in. The investigation into INSYS sales practices is still going on. This case does not help INSYS. It only adds fuel to the fire. INSYS has ignored every pharma guideline and basically said screw you to the pharma laws to get docs to write scripts. Its much worse than you think. Ask yourself this: what was the motivation for this doctor and others writing abnormal amounts of scripts to non cancer patients with back aches for this drug? I highly doubt he received payment from his patients to write this drug for them. He makes $$ from the procedures, not scripts. Why was subsys mentioned in the affidavit if all he did was write an abnormal amount of scripts? . The company bills medicare or commercial insurance and makes the money for these scripts, not the doctor. Why write so many scripts for subsys? Follow the $$$.

 

NAILED IT!