An Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner is accused of prescribing $1 million worth of unneeded medical devices to Medicare patients, ABC affiliate KCCI reported April 9.
The Justice Department alleges that Ashley Brown prescribed "unreasonable and medically unnecessary" durable medical equipment for 660 Medicare beneficiaries in return for illegal kickbacks between April 2020 and May 2021. The orders billed Medicare for a total of $1,055,672, and Ms. Brown allegedly received more than $17,000 in kickbacks.
Ms. Brown worked in a telemedicine position where she was paid to assess patient records and sign predetermined prescriptions for medical equipment. According to the Justice Department, the orders received were from telemarketers who made unsolicited calls to suspected Medicare beneficiaries, and Ms. Brown signed the orders without having any professional interaction with the patients.