Wisconsin physician agrees to pay penalties to resolve allegations of prescribing opioids illegally and violating False Claims Act
MILWAUKEE - DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul E. Maxwell and United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger announced today that Dr. Mehran Heydarpour of Brookfield, Wisconsin, agreed to pay $175,000 to resolve allegations that he prescribed opioid pain medications in violation of the Controlled Substances Act and that he billed Medicare for patient visits that did not occur in violation of the False Claims Act. Dr. Heydarpour also agreed that he would never again seek to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration for authorization to prescribe controlled substances.
Until 2016, Dr. Heydarpour provided pain management services at his clinic in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Based on investigation by the DEA and the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services (OIG), the government alleges that Dr. Heydarpour prescribed controlled substances, including opioid pain medications such as oxycodone, without legitimate medical purpose. Dr. Heydarpour routinely prescribed multiple opioid medications at extremely high doses to patients, often for years and without any documented evaluation of the patients or improvement in the patients’ pain or condition. In addition, the government alleges that Dr. Heydarpour billed Medicare for patient visits that never occurred, as he claimed.
"DEA will continue to pursue civil actions against any registrant that violates the Controlled Substances Act by practicing outside of professional medical practice and issuing illegitimate controlled substance prescriptions. The overprescribing of opioids has played a large role in the national opioid addiction crisis that our country currently faces on a daily basis," said DEA Milwaukee District Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul E. Maxwell, Jr.
"For many, the road to addiction began with opioids prescribed by their physician," said United States Attorney Krueger. "Precisely because opioids and other controlled substances are so dangerous, physicians may only prescribe them to legitimately treat medical issues. Dr. Heydarpour abused that privilege and prescribed excessive amounts of opioids to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. This settlement imposes a significant penalty on Dr. Heydarpour and also ensures that he will never prescribe controlled substances in the future."
Assistant United States Attorney Michael Carter represented the government in this matter. The DEA and OIG assisted in the investigation. The settlement agreement states allegations only; Dr. Heydarpour does not admit liability for the allegations.
