DETROIT (WWJ) - A Bingham Farms doctor faces up to 20 years behind bars after a federal jury found him guilty of running a $35 million pill mill and health care fraud scheme out of a Metro Detroit clinic, federal prosecutors announced on Monday.
According to a press release from United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison, physician David Jankowski, 62, of Bingham Farms, was convicted on 30 of 32 counts in connection to operations run out of Summit Medical Group, formerly located in Dearborn Heights.
Prosecutors said Jankowski took advantage of the nation's opioid crisis and issued or prescribed roughly 1.7 million narcotics to patients who had no medical need for them.
According to evidence given in court, the doctor scripted out highly-addictive drugs such as Oxycontin, Oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone and Xanax, and accepted cash from patient recruiters who brought people to his clinic.
Over 1.7 million drugs were prescribed in total with most ending up on the streets and being sold to opioid addicts, prosecutors claimed. The ease of which patients could access controlled drugs also attracted patients to Jankowski's clinic.
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The doctor was also found guilty of conning over $35 million from various Michigan insurance companies after submitting false claims stating he was providing medically necessary treatment.
Prosecutors said Jankowski received roughly $29.3 million from auto and private insurance companies and over $6 million from Medicare and Medicaid.
“The improper distribution of prescription drugs outside the course of ordinary medical practice causes significant harm. It is in everyone’s best interests to keep these highly addictive substances off the street, and it is particularly disturbing when a trusted physician is the vehicle for the illegal distribution of opioids,” Ison said in a press release.
“This defendant exploited vulnerable patients and the health care system by prescribing and billing for medically unnecessary prescription medications," James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, added. "By doing so, he violated his oath to do no harm, and defrauded health care insurance programs. This type of crime puts patients at risk and makes medical care more costly for all of us."
Jankowski now faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison -- his sentencing is scheduled for November.
Ison warned his office, along with local law enforcement, is "aggressively investigating health care fraud and detecting abuses by doctors."
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There have been 65 doctors, including Jankowski, throughout Southeastern Michigan that have been charged or found guilty of running pill mill schemes in the last five years.
"We hope that prosecutions like this one will deter medical professionals from illegally distributing controlled substances and stealing taxpayer funds," Ison said.