about the 'groups' of 'sponsored by drug dealers' patients they may have. And yes, people sometimes 'travel great distances' to get to them ... like if they've MOVED but don't want to start anew getting treatment in the area where they've moved TO, cause it's become a huge PITA due to red tape. Sometimes it's easier to just drive 4 hours to your old Pain Clinic once a month than to try to become a NEW patient in your new locale. There might not even BE any 'spots' there.
Pain Clinics are REQUIRED to do 'drug screenings', so the claim that they 'ordered unnecessary screenings, defrauding Medicare' doesn't make much sense, esp. since they JUST SAID 'they didn't accept insurance'. Medicare IS insurance, and drug screenings for pain patients on opioids is required ... So which is it?
Also, NO pain clinics 'dispense opioids' that I've ever heard of. You have to go to the pharmacy for those drugs (except in rare cases like getting morphine drips or demerol shots after surgery, while directly in the care of the doctors).
And why would this company need to 'launder' proceeds, when authorities don't appear to have established a means by which the clinic was taking in funds ... illegally?
And what are 'gross fees'? Must be something bad, since 'gross' is in the description?
Also, TONS of doctors these days simply don't want to deal with Insurance Co's (or only deal w/a very limited number of them at most), if they can run a profitable practice without them ... and that's just how it is. Pain Clinics (and Suboxone-dispensing docs) especially.
Sounds to me like yeah, maybe these people were involved in something deliberately shady/criminal ... but I'd say it's just as likely that they are just a legitimate Pain Clinic, and this is actually a case of opioid hysteria and overreach.
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