U.S. Jury Indicts Urgent Care Owners for Pill Mill

NEW ORLEANS — Two urgent care owners and six possible accomplices were indicted last week by a federal grand jury for allegedly running a “pill mill” that illegally distributed prescription drugs at clinics in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans.

According to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, the indictment includes 17 counts. It accuses Candace Wilson, 35, and Monica Jones, 28, of running pain-management centers where people with illegitimate ailments supposedly received Oxycontin, Xanax, Valium, and Percocet. The indictment follows a five-year investigation.

Wilson and Jones ran the Stanton Trinity Urgent Care in New Orleans, but shut it down after Hurricane Katrina. Then they opened Reddi Care Ambulatory Clinic in Baton Rouge, and Maximum Urgent Care in Lafayette. The two latter clinics were raided by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in January. The agency and the Internal Revenue Service has seized more than $800,000 from Jones, Wilson, and the rest of the group.

One of the possible accomplices includes 81-year-old Joseph Braud, MD, who is accused of writing fraudulent prescriptions. According to the indictment, the clinic’s prices hinged on the type of drug received, and the prescription quantities were large enough to be considered abusive.

The indictment also accuses Wilson, Jones, and three associates of healthcare fraud for receiving Medicaid payments in exchange for the prescriptions.

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Source: The Times-Picayune

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