On April 11, the Department of Justice announced the sentencing of Daphne Jenkins, a nurse practitioner from Virginia, in a federal court in Boston. The case involved a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme related to durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics like back and knee braces.
Between December 2018 and April 2020, Jenkins was alleged to have collaborated with a telemedicine company to sign orders for DME, which the government asserted were medically unnecessary. Telemarketing companies purportedly gathered information from Medicare beneficiaries and pre-filled these orders. Jenkins was accused of electronically signing the orders without establishing a provider-patient relationship or having direct contact.
It was reported that she often signed them without reviewing the content, including instances where she signed her name multiple times in less than a minute on lengthy order packets. The telemarketing company then purportedly sold these orders to DME suppliers, who submitted claims to Medicare. The DOJ alleged that Jenkins’s actions resulted in over $7.8 million in medically unnecessary claims being submitted to Medicare, based on documentation the government deemed falsified and influenced by kickbacks.
In November 2023, Jenkins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton sentenced her to 18 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, with the first year to be served in home confinement. Jenkins was also ordered to pay $3,952,761 in restitution.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with criminal healthcare fraud and government investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.