The former CFO and president of a New Jersey-based pharmacy pleaded guilty to their roles in a $33 million compounded medication kickback scheme.
Jeffrey Andrews, 73, the former CFO of Main Avenue Pharmacy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, according to a Sept. 25 Justice Department news release. Adam Brosius, 59, the pharmacy's former director of business development and later president, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Main Avenue Pharmacy is a mail-order pharmacy with a storefront in Clifton, N.J., according to the release. From 2014 to 2016, the pair and others used the pharmacy to run the scheme, which involved identifying compounded drugs that would yield "exorbitant" reimbursement from payers. Once the formulas were identified, the pharmacy would create large prescription pads with those formulas on them and distribute the pads to marketers across the country with whom it had contractual relationships. The marketing companies would distribute the pads to telemedicine companies and physicians with whom they had a financial arrangement.
After filling prescriptions, Main Avenue submitted claims to payers for reimbursement, including Medicare, Tricare, and commercial payers, according to the release. After receiving reimbursement, the pharmacy would pay kickbacks to the marketers.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced in February.