DOJ Tackles Health Scares
Skepticism and resentment toward the healthcare industry have persisted throughout the past several decades, with over 20% of Americans showing distrust of the system according to the NIH. Fortunately, the US government has made small steps to tackle injustice across the health and medicine space. This week, the Department of Justice conducted a coordinated crackdown, charging 78 major people with healthcare fraud. Although the 78 defendants are from separate crimes, the majority are accused of being involved in defrauding elderly and disabled people with a total of $2.5 billion. Of that, $2 billion are directly connected to 11 executives that submitted fraudulent claims from telehealth insurance. Another ten separate defendants were booked for a myriad of false prescriptions and opioid abuse.
In these terrifying scenarios, several defendants were quoted to be using the money defrauded by their vulnerable victims to buy jewelry, exotic cars, and yachts. The DOJ added further by stating patients were put at risk by the number of excess opioids supplied that were not needed. Since the beginning of Covid-19, federal control over the healthcare industry has become of great importance, and the DOJ has posted several successes since then. In the past few months, the Health Care Fraud department of the DOJ has uncovered billions of separate cases involving illegally obtained drugs, lab testing fraud, patient exploitation, and more. In a world already encumbered by war, disease, and economic pitfalls, the government’s attempts to catch hundreds of fraudsters is enlightening yet daunting.
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