By: Jeff Sommes
A Florida man has pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare for medically unnecessary prescriptions, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Eric Van Vleet, 30, of Delray Beach, entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark, admitting to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
Federal authorities said that between February 2018 and September 2019, Van Vleet operated Hype Med LLC, a company that used telemarketing and telemedicine tactics to generate prescriptions that were not medically necessary.
Call center workers allegedly contacted Medicare beneficiaries and pressured them to agree to costly medications, including pain and skin creams, migraine drugs, and other prescription products.
According to court records, recordings of these calls and pre-marked prescription forms were sent to telemedicine companies, which were paid kickbacks for each approved prescription.
Doctors were then compensated for authorizing the medications, which were ultimately routed to pharmacies, including Apogee Bio-Pharm LLC in Edison, New Jersey — that billed Medicare for reimbursement.
Prosecutors said Medicare paid more than $1.39 million based on false and fraudulent claims tied to the scheme.
Van Vleet and his company allegedly received approximately $343,000 in kickbacks. Several individuals connected to Apogee Bio-Pharm have been charged separately, and a former company executive previously pleaded guilty in the case.
Van Vleet now faces up to 10 years in prison on the health care fraud conspiracy charge and up to five years on the anti-kickback conspiracy charge, along with significant potential fines.