Most of those accused of wrongdoing are medical professionals.
The national opioid crisis has hit the heart of Appalachia particularly hard, and federal authorities are pulling out the stops in fighting it.
U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex M. Azar II, together with a host of partners, this week announced that they were charging 60 people across 11 federal districts – including 31 doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners, and seven other licensed medical professionals – for their alleged participation in the illegal prescribing and distributing of opioids and other dangerous narcotics and for related healthcare fraud schemes.
“The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history, and Appalachia has suffered the consequences more than perhaps any other region. But the Department of Justice is doing its part to help end this crisis,” Barr said in a statement. “One of the Department’s most promising new initiatives is the Criminal Division’s Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force, which began its work in December – just four months later, this team of federal agents and 14 prosecutors has charged 60 defendants for alleged crimes related to millions of prescription opioids. I am grateful to the Criminal Division, their U.S. Attorney partners, and to the members of the strike force for this outstanding work that holds the promise of saving many lives in Appalachian communities.”
Joining in on the announcement were Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; ten U.S. Assistant Attorneys representing as many districts; Executive Assistant Director Amy Hess of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch; Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Gary L. Cantrell of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Assistant Administrator John J. Martin of the DEA Diversion Control Division; and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Program Integrity (CPI) Alec Alexander.
The officials said that the newly filed charges targeted individuals contributing to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on medical professionals involved in the unlawful distribution of opioids and other prescription narcotics.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 130 Americans die every day of an opioid overdose.
“We will not stand by and allow the harmful and oftentimes deadly practice of over-prescribing highly addictive drugs to continue unchecked,” Hess said. “The FBI will pursue medical personnel who misuse their positions of trust to blatantly disregard others’ very lives for their own financial gain.”
The ARPO Strike Force operates out of two hubs, based in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Nashville, Tenn. regions. The various individuals and entities that make up the Strike Force work closely with other state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the various state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
The charges announced this week were connected to totals of 350,000 prescriptions amounting to 32 million pills distributed in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
HHS also noted that in less than a year, since June 2018, it has excluded over 2,000 individuals from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal healthcare programs, including more than 650 providers excluded for conduct related to opioid diversion and abuse.
“It is also vital that Americans struggling with addiction have access to treatment and that patients who need pain treatment do not see their care disrupted, which is why federal and local public health authorities have coordinated to ensure these needs are met in the wake of this enforcement operation,” Azar said. “Law enforcement and public health leaders will continue to work hand in hand to end this crisis that has hit Appalachia hard and steals far too many lives across America every day.”
To review the charges in their entirety, go online to https://www.justice.gov/opa/documents-and-resources-april-17-2019-press-conference.
Here are my thoughts on what to expect when the federal shutdown finally ends. First, the lights don’t all flick back on at once. Agencies
Back in June, I was on the Monitor Mondays broadcast discussing the initial momentum within the Trump Administration for a single, national provider directory. Now,
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Accurately determining the principal diagnosis is critical for compliant billing, appropriate reimbursement, and valid quality reporting — yet it remains one of the most subjective and error-prone areas in inpatient coding. In this expert-led session, Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, demystifies the complexities of principal diagnosis assignment, bridging the gap between coding rules and clinical reality. Learn how to strengthen your organization’s coding accuracy, reduce denials, and ensure your documentation supports true medical necessity.
Denials continue to delay reimbursement, increase administrative burden, and threaten financial stability across healthcare organizations. This essential webcast tackles the root causes—rising payer scrutiny, fragmented workflows, inconsistent documentation, and underused analytics—and offers proven, data-driven strategies to prevent and overturn denials. Attendees will gain practical tools to strengthen documentation and coding accuracy, engage clinicians effectively, and leverage predictive analytics and AI to identify risks before they impact revenue. Through real-world case examples and actionable guidance, this session empowers coding, CDI, and revenue cycle professionals to shift from reactive appeals to proactive denial prevention and revenue protection.
Sepsis remains one of the most frequently denied and contested diagnoses, creating costly revenue loss and compliance risks. In this webcast, Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, provides practical, real-world strategies to align documentation with coding guidelines, reconcile Sepsis-2 and Sepsis-3 definitions, and apply compliant queries. You’ll learn how to identify and address documentation gaps, strengthen provider engagement, and defend diagnoses against payer scrutiny—equipping you to protect reimbursement, improve SOI/ROM capture, and reduce audit vulnerability in this high-risk area.
Only ICD10monitor delivers what you need: updates on must-know changes associated with the FY26 IPPS, including new ICD-10-CM/PCS codes, CCs/MCCs, and MS-DRGs, plus insights, analysis and answers to your questions from two of the country’s most respected subject matter experts.
Get clear, practical answers to Medicare’s most confusing regulations. Join Dr. Ronald Hirsch as he breaks down real-world compliance challenges and shares guidance your team can apply right away.
Federal auditors are zeroing in on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and hospital rehab unit services, with OIG and CERT audits leading to millions in penalties—often due to documentation and administrative errors, not quality of care. Join compliance expert Michael Calahan, PA, MBA, to learn the five clinical “pillars” of IRF-PPS admissions, key documentation requirements, and real-life case lessons to help protect your revenue.
During this essential RACmonitor webcast Michael Calahan, PA, MBA Certified Compliance Officer, will clarify the rules, dispel common misconceptions, and equip you with practical strategies to code, document, and bill high-risk split/shared, incident-to & critical care E/M services with confidence. Don’t let audit risks or revenue losses catch your organization off guard — learn exactly what federal auditors are looking for and how to ensure your documentation and reporting stand up to scrutiny.
Learn how to navigate the proposed elimination of the Inpatient-Only list. Gain strategies to assess admission status, avoid denials, protect compliance, and address impacts across Medicare and non-Medicare payors. Essential insights for hospitals.
Happy National Doctor’s Day! Learn how to get a complimentary webcast on ‘Decoding Social Admissions’ as a token of our heartfelt appreciation! Click here to learn more →
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 1 with code CYBER25
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24
