Home Norfolk Press Releases 2010 Virginia Beach Doctor Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison for Defrauding Medicare and Tricare
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Virginia Beach Doctor Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison for Defrauding Medicare and Tricare

U.S. Attorney’s Office March 15, 2010
  • Eastern District of Virginia (757) 441-6331

NORFOLK, VA—Ronald Poulin, 61, of Virginia Beach, Virginia was sentenced today in United States District Court to 63 months in prison for health care fraud, making false statements relating to health care matters, and altering records to obstruct an investigation. A Norfolk federal jury found Poulin guilty of those offenses last November following a two week trial. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Poulin was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark S. Davis, who also ordered Poulin to pay restitution in the total amount of $790,641.87.

Poulin is an oncologist and hematologist with a medical practice located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The evidence presented at trial showed that between January 2006 and August 2008, Poulin filed several hundred false and fraudulent claims totaling approximately $1.3 million with the federally funded health care benefit programs Medicare and TRICARE. The billing scheme involved three components: Poulin billed for a greater amount of chemotherapy drugs than patients actually received; split single-dose 40,000 unit vials of the anemia drug Procrit between two patients and billed as if each patient had received a full vial; and billed for patient office visits which never occurred.

In addition, after being served with administrative subpoenas by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, directing him to produce certain patient and billing records as part of an investigation of his billing practices, Poulin altered the records to obstruct and influence the investigation.

“The federal government spends billions on health care, and it’s our responsibility to root out those who corrupt the system and steal from the taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Ronald Poulin lied to get more money for his services than he deserved, and now he is going to spend 63 months in prison as a result of that greed.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorneys Katherine Lee Martin and Alan M. Salsbury prosecuted the case for the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

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