David Florence, DO, of Manchester, Tenn., has been hit with a False Claims Act lawsuit, alleging he made fraudulent claims to Medicare and Tennessee's Medicaid program, TennCare, according to the Department of Justice.
According to the complaint, Matthew Anderson, a chiropractor, recruited several physicians, including Dr. Florence, to serve as sham owners of four pain clinics in Tennessee. However, Mr. Anderson allegedly was the true owner of the clinics the whole time they were in operation.
The government claims Mr. Anderson instructed employees at the four clinics to upcode for office visits and operated Cookeville (Tenn.) Center for Pain Management as a "pill mill," according to the DOJ.
Through the scheme, Medicare and TennCare were allegedly defrauded at least $1 million.
In addition to his role in the fraud scheme with Mr. Anderson, the government alleges Dr. Florence ran a pill mill out of his Center for Advanced Medicine in Manchester.
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