A New England doctor has pleaded guilty to peddling thousands of dollars in illegal prescriptions. The result came from a joint prosecution effort by the Justice Department’s New England Strike Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont.
The report from the Justice Department alleged that Adnan S. Khan, M.D., who resides in New Hampshire, conspired with others to illegally distribute controlled substances through his business, New England Medicine and Counseling Associates (NEMCA).
Khan operated several clinics through NEMCA in New England. These locations were advertised as facilities where patients could receive treatment for substance abuse and addictions.
The report also found that Khan nonchalantly preyed on vulnerable patients and forced them to pay additional cash and carry out other demeaning processes for them to have access to their prescription drugs. He would then personally deposit the ill-gotten gains in his bank account over $10,000 at a time.
Doctor preys on vulnerable patients to distribute illegal prescriptions.
“Khan and his co-conspirator exploited vulnerable patients and cashed in on the very dependencies he was entrusted to treat,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli of the FBI Albany Field Office. “Today’s plea proves he is no better than a street level drug dealer motivated by pure greed as opposed to the oath he took to ‘first, do no harm’ to his patients.”
It was recorded by the Justice Department that Khan and one of his co-conspirators made vulnerable patients “pay $250 cash in exchange for drug prescriptions, despite many of these patients’ having health care benefit coverage. If a patient could not afford the full cash payment, Khan would lower the dosage of that patient’s prescription.”
The malfeasance allowed Khan to live a lavish lifestyle and made extravagant purchases like an aeroplane and multiple properties in New England.
“When we announced the creation of the New England Strike Force, we said we would be focusing on medical professionals who put profits over their patients,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest for the District of Vermont. “Khan is an example of that — a bad apple in a profession that takes an oath to uphold ethical standards and treat patients as you would want to be treated. Putting profits over patients is a severe violation of that oath, and, in this case, a violation of federal criminal law. Today’s guilty plea is another step in holding Khan liable for his illegal conduct.”
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