SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Dr. Howard Silcoff, and his medical practice, Dryden Family Medical Practice, PLLC agreed to pay $70,377 to resolve the United States’ allegations that they prescribed controlled substances for non-legitimate medical purposes, outside the usual course of a professional practice, thereby causing false claims to be submitted to the Medicare program.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Naomi Gruchacz, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Region (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division.
Under the Controlled Substances Act and analogous New York State law, controlled substances may only be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of a professional practice. Prescribers must regulate the dosage to that which is ordinarily recognized by the medical profession as sufficient for treatment. For the cost of a prescription to be reimbursable by Medicare, the prescription must be medically necessary, and comply with federal and state law. Dr. Silcoff admitted that for more than a decade, he prescribed an average of 35 morphine pills per day to a single patient. He also simultaneously prescribed to the same patient diazepam, also known as valium, which belongs to class of drugs known as benzodiazepines. Dr....
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