MACON —
A Camilla pharmacist has been sentenced to prison and restitution in a Medicaid fraud case.
J. Harris Morgan Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to two and a half years in prison by W. Louis Sands, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Morgan’s prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. Morgan was ordered to pay restitution of $2,804,462.
Morgan, 64, was convicted in October 2008, of 69 counts of health care fraud, following a two-week jury trial in Albany
Michael J. Moore, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said the indictment charged that for a period of several years ending in August 2007, Morgan, a registered pharmacist and the owner of Thrift Center Pharmacy in Camilla, executed a scheme to defraud the Georgia Medicaid program, which is jointly funded with state and federal funds.
Morgan executed the scheme by submitting false and fraudulent claims for Synagis and other drugs, Moore said,
Synagis is a drug used to prevent RSV, a serious respiratory disease in premature infants and other high-risk children. The claims were false in that Morgan billed Medicaid for more Synagis than had actually been administered to the patient, and Morgan billed Medicaid when no Synagis had been administered, Moore explained.
Morgan further instructed his staff to use a false diagnosis that had not been given by the physician, in order to obtain approval from the Medicaid program to dispense Synagis to patients who would not have qualified to receive it, according to Moore.
Moore said, “Mr. Morgan took $2.8 million dollars of the taxpayers’ money by defrauding a public health care program specifically designed to provide medical care to those who cannot afford it. Such crimes are reprehensible and should be punished severely. The United States Attorney’s Office is dedicated to the mission of prosecuting those who commit health care fraud.”
The investigation was conducted by the Georgia Health Care Fraud Control Unit and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U. S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy B. Allstrom prosecuted the case.
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December 17, 2010
Pharmacist fraud
Camilla's Morgan sentenced Wednesday to prison
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Emily Sneed, Bishop Hall (from left); Kenna Rodgers, Thomas County Central High; Amber Stewart, Thomasville High Scholar’s Academy; Danielle Harrell, Brookwood; and Ashton Goff, homeschool graduate received scholarships from Women’s Forum of Thomasville-Thomas County.
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