[00:00.0 - 00:01.5] Newark, NJ. [00:01.5 - 00:03.9] A Burlington, New Jersey man was arrested Friday [00:03.9 - 00:06.2] for his role in a telemedicine scheme [00:06.2 - 00:08.7] to prescribe expensive compounded medications [00:08.7 - 00:10.3] to patients who did not need them, [00:10.3 - 00:12.7] U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
[00:12.7 - 00:16.5] Dr. Bernard Ogun, 45, is charged by complaint [00:16.5 - 00:19.6] with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. [00:19.6 - 00:21.9] He made his initial court appearance this afternoon [00:21.9 - 00:24.4] before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dixon [00:24.4 - 00:26.0] in Newark Federal Court [00:26.0 - 00:29.8] and was released on $500,000 secured bond. [00:29.8 - 00:31.9] According to documents filed in this case [00:31.9 - 00:33.7] and statements made in court, [00:33.7 - 00:35.7] telemedicine allows healthcare providers [00:35.7 - 00:39.0] to evaluate, evaluate, diagnose, [00:39.0 - 00:40.5] and treat patients remotely [00:40.5 - 00:42.7] without the need for an in-person visit [00:42.7 - 00:44.2] by interacting with a patient [00:44.2 - 00:46.4] using telecommunications technology, [00:46.4 - 00:48.6] such as the internet or telephone.
[00:48.6 - 00:51.6] Ogun was paid by various telemedicine companies [00:51.6 - 00:55.5] to prescribe exorbitantly expensive compounded medications, [00:55.5 - 00:59.8] such as pain creams, scar creams, migraine creams, [00:59.8 - 01:03.4] and metabolic supplements, or wellness capsules. [01:03.4 - 01:05.8] Regardless of whether they were medically necessary [01:05.8 - 01:08.3] for the patient, the telemedicine company [01:08.3 - 01:12.0] sent Ogun prescriptions to sign for compounded medications, [01:12.0 - 01:13.8] and Ogun signed the prescriptions [01:13.8 - 01:15.1] without having established [01:15.1 - 01:17.5] any prior doctor-patient relationship, [01:17.5 - 01:19.2] speaking with the patient, [01:19.2 - 01:22.2] or conducting any kind of medical evaluation. [01:22.2 - 01:24.4] The telemedicine companies often filled out [01:24.4 - 01:26.4] the prescriptions completely, [01:26.4 - 01:28.7] including selecting the compound medications [01:28.7 - 01:32.1] to be prescribed before Ogun ever saw them.
[01:32.1 - 01:34.8] Once Ogun received the filled-out prescriptions, [01:34.8 - 01:37.9] he needed only to sign them to complete the prescription. [01:37.9 - 01:40.4] Ogun often received little or no information [01:40.4 - 01:43.4] about the patients before he signed the prescriptions. [01:43.4 - 01:45.8] As a result, Ogun on multiple occasions [01:45.8 - 01:46.9] signed into prescriptions [01:46.9 - 01:50.5] for either expensive compounded scar cream or pain cream, [01:50.5 - 01:52.5] even though he had not received any information [01:52.5 - 01:55.1] indicating that the patient needed them.
[01:55.1 - 01:57.4] Ogun also signed prescriptions for patients [01:57.4 - 01:59.4] residing in states where he was not licensed [01:59.4 - 02:00.9] to practice medicine. [02:00.9 - 02:04.6] After Ogun signed the medically unnecessary prescriptions, [02:04.6 - 02:06.9] they were sent to compounding pharmacies [02:06.9 - 02:10.4] with whom he or other entities involved in the scheme [02:10.4 - 02:12.0] had relationships. [02:12.0 - 02:15.2] The compounding pharmacies then filled the prescriptions [02:15.2 - 02:17.7] and billed the patient's healthcare benefit program [02:17.7 - 02:19.7] regardless of medical necessity.
[02:19.7 - 02:21.8] The telemedicine companies paid Ogun [02:21.8 - 02:23.2] on a per-prescription basis [02:23.2 - 02:25.4] for many prescriptions he signed. [02:25.4 - 02:27.4] One telemedicine company paid Ogun [02:27.4 - 02:31.0] between $20 and $30 per prescription. [02:31.0 - 02:33.5] Ogun's participation in the conspiracy [02:33.5 - 02:36.3] caused a loss to healthcare benefit programs [02:36.3 - 02:38.4] of more than 20 million, [02:38.4 - 02:41.8] at least 3 million of which was sustained by TRICARE, [02:41.8 - 02:43.4] a healthcare benefit program [02:43.4 - 02:45.9] for members of the military and their families.
[02:45.9 - 02:48.8] The charge of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud [02:48.8 - 02:52.1] is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison [02:52.1 - 02:55.2] and a fine of $250,000 fine, [02:55.2 - 02:58.6] or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. [02:58.6 - 03:02.4] U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI [03:02.4 - 03:04.6] under the direction of special agent in charge, [03:04.6 - 03:06.9] Gregory W.
Airy in Newark, [03:06.9 - 03:08.5] the U.S. Department of Defense, [03:08.5 - 03:10.5] Office of the Inspector General, [03:10.5 - 03:13.1] Defense Criminal Investigative Service, [03:13.1 - 03:15.4] under the direction of special agent in charge, [03:15.4 - 03:17.3] Lee Alistair Barzee, [03:17.3 - 03:19.5] and special agents of the Department of Health [03:19.5 - 03:21.1] and Human Services, [03:21.1 - 03:23.5] under the direction of special agent in charge, [03:23.5 - 03:25.1] Scott J. Lampert, [03:25.1 - 03:28.9] with the ongoing investigation leading to today's arrest.
[03:28.9 - 03:31.7] The government is represented by assistant U.S. attorneys, [03:31.7 - 03:34.0] Jason S. Gould and Erica Liu, [03:34.0 - 03:37.1] chief of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit [03:37.1 - 03:40.0] of the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Newark. [03:40.0 - 03:42.2] The charge and allegations in the complaint [03:42.2 - 03:44.0] are merely accusations, [03:44.0 - 03:46.3] and the defendant is presumed innocent [03:46.3 - 03:49.1] unless and until proven guilty. [03:49.1 - 03:51.7] Source, OHI.gov, [03:51.7 - 03:54.1] provided by AccessCloud Sync, [03:54.1 - 03:56.4] HIPAA-compliant cloud storage solution [03:56.4 - 03:58.2] for accesscloudsync.com.
