Post by Scumhunter on Apr 17, 2020 3:13:59 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services- Office of Inspector General website)
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)- Office of Inspector General (OIG) website):
On August 27, 2014, Syed Jawed Akhtar-Zaidi was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, healthcare fraud, distribution of controlled substances, and money laundering. Investigators believe that Akhtar-Zaidi and his co-conspirators billed Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance providers more than $10 million for false medical office visits and prescription drugs that were dispensed without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice.
Akhtar-Zaidi was a physician who operated a medical office called Pain Management of Northern Ohio. According to the indictment, from around September 2009 to around October 2013, Akhtar-Zaidi and his co-conspirators illegally distributed and dispensed thousands of doses of prescription painkillers to customers in the Northern District of Ohio and elsewhere. These prescriptions, primarily for oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and morphine, were dispensed without adequately verifying the patient's identity or medical complaint, without an adequate and reliable medical history, without performing a complete or adequate mental or physical examination, without maintaining complete medical records, without establishing a true diagnosis, and without assessing the risk of abuse for the patients.
Akhtar-Zaidi used pre-signed blank prescription forms upon which his staff filled in the controlled substance and dosage to be prescribed. Investigators related that he and co-conspirators distributed the controlled substances to patients, knowing that the patients were addicted to drugs, were misusing or abusing drugs, or were requesting additional quantities in order to divert the drugs to others. Akhtar-Zaidi instructed staff at his office not to report customers to law enforcement whom they suspected of being "drug seeking" and/or "doctor shopping."
Investigators believe that Akhtar-Zaidi fled the United States around December 2013 and may be residing in Pakistan. He remains a fugitive at-large.
oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fugitives/profiles.asp#other-fugitives
Thoughts? As of this posting date (April 17th, 2020), Akhtar-Zaidi remains listed as a wanted fugitive on the HHS-OIG website. I figured out Ohio as the wanted state since, in 2013 at least, there was controversy and online petitions asking for the case against Dr. Akhtar-Zaidi to be dropped. Although it should be noted the main complaint was his offices being raided and months going by without charges being filed, there finally were charges in August 2014: www.change.org/p/tell-the-department-of-justice-drop-the-case-against-dr-syed-j-akhtar-zaidi-s-medical-practice-and-stop-the-war-on-pain-patients-and-providers
Also this website simply profiles fugitive cases we find interesting for discussion purposes. We acknowledge all fugitives are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Admin Note #1: According to the HHS-OIG website, anyone having information on this fugitive should report a tip via the following link: tips.oig.hhs.gov/report-a-fugitive/create-complaint
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form