(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A north suburban doctor was sentenced to federal prison for prescribing opioids to her patients without a medical exam — and then billing Medicare for the so-called treatment.
Eliza Diaconescu, a 74-year-old doctor from Lake Forest pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal health care fraud.
Prosecutors said she admitted to pre-signing prescriptions for fentanyl, oxycodone, and other drugs for patients at her pain clinic in Gurnee from 2016 to 2021.
Prosecutors said Diaconescu and others at the clinic also created false paperwork, which indicated that she had face-to-face exams with the patients prior to writing the opioid prescriptions. In reality, Diaconescu had not even seen the patients.
She then knowingly submitted false claims seeking reimbursement from Medicare.
Diaconescu has been sentenced to six months in federal prison and ordered to pay over $84,000 in restitution to Medicare.
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