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Posted on 01/17/2009 8:17:46 AM PST by Gondring
Federal search warrants released Friday accuse Dr. Antoine Johnson of selling prescriptions for cash, filing false bills for medical service and submitting fraudulent tax returns.
The warrants cite several medical audits and undercover visits as well as doctor, patient and employee interviews listing issues with missing records, inflated billing or prescription drug refills without proper medical evaluation.
“One patient told (an employee) that Dr. Johnson’s clinic is known as a ‘drug mill’ and ‘pill farm’ in the community,” a warrant stated. “... (The employee) believed that some patients went to more than one of Dr. Johnson’s clinics on the same day or near that date to get refill prescriptions for narcotics.”
More than a dozen doctors and patients told investigators Johnson had a reputation as a “writer,” who freely distributed prescription drugs.
The 38-year-old doctor had his Aberdeen office, the Broadway Clinic, and his mother’s home along Broadway Avenue searched by federal agents Wednesday morning. Agents and local authorities also searched his other Johnson Family Clinics in Lakewood, Olympia and Tacoma.
Johnson and his mother deny any wrongdoing. He blamed the raids on racial discrimination, saying investigators are looking for crimes that are not there.
“It’s like they thought we had more than just some samples of prescription drugs,” he said earlier this week. “The way they acted, it’s like they thought we had illicit drugs. But that’s ridiculous.”
Johnson said his staff members were searched by agents and valuable records were taken in the execution of the warrants. He praised his employees for returning to work the next day.
No arrests were made.
Court records show agents seized financial and medical records going back five years. They also took tax statements and other items stored at the clinics and the home of Johnson’s mother.
The warrants sought evidence of four potential crimes including health care fraud, false statements on health care, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and tax fraud.
One accusation stated Johnson participated in “upcoding,” or filling insurance reimbursements for more expensive procedures than the services actually performed, according to the warrant. The audits found between $68,000 and $116,000 in overpayments to Johnson’s office.
The warrants state Johnson’s tax statements also show rapid increases in profit and issues with his reported income.
“Tax records show a disparity between the gross revenues and profits reported by the Broadway Clinic in Aberdeen, and Dr. Johnson’s personal income, as reported to the Internal Revenue Service,” a warrant stated. “They also reveal a steady and significant rise in profits for this particular clinic for the five-year period between 2002 and 2006.”
According to the warrant, Johnson’s gross profits grew from just more than $25,000 to more than $1 million in those five years.
Undercover agents, former employees and patients also observed rushed examinations and unrecorded cash transactions, the warrants stated. They told investigators they often heard talk of drug exchanges and paranoia regarding police officers.
“(One employee) said that there were 40 to 50 patients scheduled per day, and often there was no space in the waiting room, so patients waited in the parking lot,” the warrant stated. “Some patients who had morning appointments would not be seen until late afternoon. (The employee) heard rumors that some of the patients who paid cash were receiving narcotic prescriptions and then selling them in the parking lot.”
The spouse of a former patient said Johnson put that patient on 12 to 14 different drugs at the same time, according to the warrant. The patient later died from a drug overdose, which the spouse attributes to Johnson feeding the patient’s addiction.
“These witness explained that Dr. Johnson did not perform examinations or tests which would have allowed him to established (sic) a ‘legitimate medical purpose’ for the prescribing of controlled substances. ... The patients went to Dr. Johnson to satisfy their addiction to controlled substances.”
The court filing does state, however, that Dr. Johnson did sometimes perform random drug testing on some of his patients before refilling their prescriptions.
The 70-page warrant continues to list other examples of suspicious activity and discrepancies in financial records. More than a dozen interviews, undercover visits and audits are summarized in support of the search warrants.
Johnson said he believes the raids are connected to ongoing lawsuits he has filed against Grays Harbor Community and Willapa Harbor hospitals.
The doctor said he may have a negative reputation, but he treats many patients with chronic pain. He said he has an ethical duty to help them.
Jacob Jones, a Daily World writer, can be reached at 537-3930, or by e-mail at jjones@thedailyworld.com
Anyone know if this is the same Dr. Antoine Johnson who owns the Jazz of Tacoma basketball team? I'm guessing it is.
Bet it is.
I was looking for a new doctor and his one clinic is really close to my house, and I thought it would be nice to have a doctor so close. For some reason, though, I just had a less than good feeling about it and went elsewhere.
I once had a doctor who took cash only. He was a General Practitioner, and I had no clue what that meant—that he had no residency/board certification.
He was an old guy whose wife worked the front office, and his degree was from a German university way back. Through his thick German accent, he’d mutter about the “d*mn immigrants making tuberculosis go up again.” I never saw another white patient in the place when I went.
When I went there for physical exam for marriage license, he just pointed below my belt and asked, “got any problems there?” and I said, “nope...never have,” he signed the form.
My then-fiancée used to joke that he had probably escaped Germany in 1945. I laughed, but upon further reflection and subtracting dates, we began to wonder!
Ah, the joys of being poor.
Exam for license? Never heard of that one.
Each state has different requirements
North Carolina had (has?) it.
Exams are just a flimsy racist excuse to exclude those capable candidates who happen to be in protected classes. //sarc off
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