The DOJ just announced that Irina Sadovsky, owner and pharmacist-in-charge of Five Start RX, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs. Sadovsky now faces up to 15 years in prison after a federal jury convicted her for engaging in a black-market prescription drug diversion scheme.
From approximately September 2016 to April 2017, Sadovsky submitted claims to Medicaid of California and Medicare for prescription drugs provided to co-conspirators to sell on the black market instead of the intended beneficiaries. According to court documents, Sadovsky checked the eligibility of patients for reimbursement and recommended combinations of prescription drugs to be written. In turn, Sadovsky’s co-conspirators created fraudulent prescriptions by paying kickbacks to marketers with access to patients and prescribers or writing prescriptions themselves. Ultimately, Sadovsky submitted those fraudulent claims to Medicaid of California and Medicare.
Sadovsky is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3, 2023 and faces up to 10 years in prison for health care fraud conspiracy and up to 5 years in prison for unlicensed distribution conspiracy.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with both civil and criminal health care fraud matters and government investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.