A Michigan anesthesiologist is charged with illegal distribution of prescription drugs and defrauding insurers, MLive reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. Lesly Pompy, MD, allegedly prescribed more than 6 million medically unnecessary doses of controlled substances and charged insurers for care he didn't provide.
2. The Monroe, Mich., physician submitted around $17 million in claims to Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield between 2012 and 2016, according to MLive.
Most of those claims sought reimbursement for office visits and services that were medically unnecessary or never performed, federal prosecutors said.
3. A grand jury returned the 37-count indictment June 26. Dr. Pompy was arraigned June 27 and released on bond.
4. The state of Michigan suspended Dr. Pompy's license to practice medicine in 2017, according to The Monroe News.
5. Dr. Pompy's attorney Ronald William Chapman II said the decision to prosecute was an overreach by federal authorities and a step in the wrong direction.
"While we recognize that there is an opiate epidemic in this nation, we must be careful not to overreach and prosecute good doctors who provide good patient care," Mr. Chapman told MLive. "Dr. Pompy is one of those doctors. Since the initial allegations in 2016, Dr. Pompy has seen overwhelming support from his patients and health professional colleagues — many of whom have testified on his behalf in related hearings."