In the Trump administration’s latest effort to crack down on fraud, the Justice Department on Tuesday unveiled charges against 455 people for their alleged participation in healthcare fraud and opioid abuse schemes.
The defendants, who included 90 doctors and other healthcare professionals, were involved in $6.5 billion worth of fraud that involved false claims and resulted in significant harm to patients, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
“This is just the beginning. Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference Tuesday. “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Officials highlighted one defendant who they claim rubber stamped a student’s cardiovascular test as normal without alerting the family that his heart was enlarged. The 18-year-old college basketball player, Kaiden Francis, died weeks later during a workout.
A record 45 states and territories participated in this year’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown, which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted during the press conference. The Trump administration has clamped down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud in several, primarily Democratic-led states, leading their governors to claim political bias.
