SAN DIEGO – OptumRx Inc., a prescription drug benefit provider, has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that it improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into whether, between April 2013...

SAN DIEGO – Palomar Health, a California public health care district located in San Diego County, has paid $250,000 to resolve allegations of diversion of fentanyl from one of its facilities and failure to keep accurate records for fentanyl. Palomar Health is California’s largest health care district, with campuses in...

NEWARK, N.J. – A pharmaceutical manufacturer agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), DEA New Jersey Field Division Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today The manufacturer, Novel Laboratories Inc. (Novel), a subsidiary of...

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, doctor was charged with conspiring to distribute opioids without a legitimate medical reason, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Field Division Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Lisa Ferraro, 65, of Hillsdale, New...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Division Cheryl Ortiz and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on July 25, 2023, Maria F. Macburnie, aka Marife L. Macburnie, 62, of Toms River, was charged with Practicing Medicine by an Unlicensed...

NEWARK, N.J. – Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Daniel J. Kafafian and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced a former office manager of a New Jersey medical practice admitted conspiring with the doctor who owned the...

NEWARK, N.J. – In a civil complaint filed today, the Department of Justice alleges that AmerisourceBergen Corp. and two of its subsidiaries, AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. and Integrated Commercialization Solutions LLC (AmerisourceBergen), collectively one of the country’s largest wholesale pharmaceutical distributors and one of the largest companies in America by revenue...

SAN DIEGO - Dr. David J. Smith, a pain management physician, and his office manager, Julia Ann Oertle, are charged in a federal grand-jury indictment with perpetuating a long-running scheme to commit healthcare fraud and to manufacture and distribute adulterated fentanyl. Smith made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate...

NEWARK, N.J. – Susan A. Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations-New Jersey Field Office, Patrick J. Hegarty, Defense Criminal Investigative...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced a pharmacist and pharmacy owner pleaded guilty today to violating the Controlled Substances Act by filling fraudulent and counterfeit...