Chicago physician Eliza Diaconescu, MD, has been sentenced to prison for prescribing opioids to patients without an exam and then billing for the purported treatment, the U.S. Justice Department said July 17.
From 2016 to 2021, Dr. Diaconescu admitted she pre-signed prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl for patients to receive when she was not present at her Gurnee, Ill.-based pain clinic.
Dr. Diaconescu and other employees at the clinic created paperwork falsely indicating she had face-to-face exams with the patients who had come to pick up the pre-signed prescriptions. She then knowingly submitted false claims for reimbursements from Medicare, according to the release.
She is sentenced to six months in federal prison and must pay $84,031 to Medicare.