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| JANUARY 3, 2006 HALEYVILLE PHARMACIST CHARGED IN DRUG FRAUD SCHEME |
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: GERALD MAX BURLESON, 63, of Haleyville has been charged with one count of Health Care Fraud and one count of Drug Misbranding in a Criminal Information which was filed today in U.S. District Court. The Health Care Fraud count alleges that BURLESON defrauded Medicare in connection with drugs dispensed to Medicare patients by City Pharmacy of Haleyville. BURLESON operated the pharmacy. The Information further alleges that BURLESON received prescriptions from physicians which prescribed medications which were commercially available in the strengths prescribed. Instead of dispensing medications as ordered by the physicians, BURLESON dispensed medication that he had compounded from ingredients he had acquired, without the physicians' knowledge. The Information alleges that the compounded medication was placed into vials which were then dispensed to patients from an unlicensed location. BURLESON filed claims with Medicare and received reimbursement for the medications he dispensed. The Drug Misbranding charge alleges acts related to dispensing the compounded medications to a specific patient. “We have come to expect the best from health care providers in the country because our health care system is the best in the world. That system deserves our greatest efforts in protecting it from abuse,” stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. The maximum sentence for Health Care Fraud is 10 years and a $250,000 fine, or both; the maximum sentence for Drug Misbranding is 3 years and a $10,000 fine, or both. Special Agents of the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Criminal Investigations, Food and Drug Administration; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Herbert H. Henry is prosecuting this case. Members of the public are reminded that the Information contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 3, 2006 |
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