Officials have stated that a well-known doctor from Livonia has been given a prison sentence for his role in a huge fraud scheme that involved prescription millions of potentially harmful medicines.
Dr. Frank Patino, who was 68 years old, was well-known in the fitness and mixed martial art communities. He authored a book titled “Patino diet,” which was based on his diet plan. On the morning of June 27, 2018, he was taken into custody, and the offices of his company, Patino Laboratories, which were located in Livonia, were searched by federal agents.
According to the prosecution, Patino prescribed more powerful opioids to patients in the hope that they would grow addicted to the drugs and continue to purchase more.
More than 2 million potentially harmful and addictive medicines, such as oxycodone and fentanyl, were prescribed by Patino, leading to allegations that he defrauded Medicaid to the tune of $112 million. Patino was charged with this offence.
According to the authorities, he administered the medications to such a large number of patients that he felt the need to post a security guard in the parking lot of his premises.
According to officials from the federal government, Patino utilised some of the fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements to fund his sponsorship of mixed martial arts athletes, who wore his laboratory’s name on their shorts.
Patino was given a sentence that will put him behind bars for close to 17 years on Monday (the 30th of January, 2023) and an order to pay $30 million in reparations to Medicare and other insurance companies.
According to the prosecution, Patino was responsible for “one of the most outrageous health care schemes in the history of the United States.”
According to the Associated Press, a Justice Department Attorney named Steven Scott stated in a court filing that Patino “steadily increased the potency of the opioids he prescribed over the course of approximately five years, ultimately making him the top prescriber of 30 milligramme oxycodone within the state of Michigan.
Scott’s comments were made in reference to a statement that Patino made in a court filing.
Patino has maintained his innocence since Monday, and his attorney has asked for a new trial, alleging that the previous defence attorney did an inadequate job with the case.
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