Comanche County Hospital Authority, which owns Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Lawton, Okla., and two physicians formerly employed at the hospital have agreed to pay $550,000 to resolve allegations about inappropriate prescribing practices, the Justice Department said Feb. 22.
The settlement resolves allegations that Troy Harden, DO, and Moncy Varkey, DO, wrote prescriptions for various non-opioid schedule II controlled substances that were outside the usual course of professional practice between November 2016 and August 2018. The Justice Department claimed the physicians issued the prescriptions without first meeting with patients face-to-face to establish a physician-patient relationship.
The settlement also resolves claims that Comanche County Memorial Hospital failed to implement appropriate prescribing policies and procedures.
Drs. Harden and Varkey and the hospital did not admit liability as part of the settlement.