Frisco doctors sent to prison for Medicare fraud involving dishing out drugs 'like candy'

Employees at a Frisco-based hospice services company were handing out controlled substances "like candy" without professional supervision as part of a multi-million dollar healthcare fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier this month, two doctors were sentenced to a combined 23 years in prison for their part in the fraud. The scheme flowed about $40 million in Medicare and Medicaid funds to the company the two doctors worked for, Novus Health Services. In May, a federal jury found several Novus Health Services employees guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and other charges. This included Medical Directors Dr. Mark E. Gibbs and Dr. Laila Hirjee, as well as Novus registered nurse Tammie Little.

Early this month, Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn gave Gibbs a 13-year sentence in federal prison and said he’d have to pay $27,978,903 in restitution. Hirjee was sentenced to a decade in federal prison and ordered to pay $16,253,281. Little was slapped with 33 months in federal prison. COURTS Frisco Doctors Sent to Prison for Medicare Fraud Involving Dishing Out Drugs 'Like Candy' JACOB VAUGHN DECEMBER 9, 2021 4:00AM The Frisco-based company Novus Health Services also destroyed documents to hide the fraud from Medicare. The Frisco-based company Novus Health Services also destroyed documents to hide the fraud from Medicare. Jericho / Wikimedia Employees at a Frisco-based hospice services company were handing out controlled substances "like candy" without professional supervision as part of a multi-million dollar healthcare fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier this month, two doctors were sentenced to a combined 23 years in prison for their part in the fraud. The scheme flowed about $40 million in Medicare and Medicaid funds to the company the two doctors worked for, Novus Health Services. In May, a federal jury found several Novus Health Services employees guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and other charges. This included Medical Directors Dr. Mark E. Gibbs and Dr. Laila Hirjee, as well as Novus registered nurse Tammie Little. Early this month, Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn gave Gibbs a 13-year sentence in federal prison and said he’d have to pay $27,978,903 in restitution. Hirjee was sentenced to a decade in federal prison and ordered to pay $16,253,281. Little was slapped with 33 months in federal prison. Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that showed the three Novus employees had helped CEO Bradley Harris defraud Medicare. The fraud was made possible, in part, by illegally admitting patients into hospice who didn’t need to be and submitting “materially false claims for hospice services,” according to the DOJ. Harris pleaded guilty before the trial and testified against the three former employees. He testified in court that he and Novus nurses would decide which patients were admitted into hospice and what drugs to prescribe, instead of licensed medical professionals.