Physician Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud Charges

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that Daniel C. Gillick, 63, a physician residing in Youngstown, New York, pleaded guilty to obtaining controlled substances by fraud and health care fraud. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell and Timothy C. Lynch, who are handling the case, stated that between August 2011 and September 7, 2011, the defendant was employed as an emergency room physician at Schuyler Hospital. During that time, Gillick devised a scheme whereby on September 7, 2011, his girlfriend reported to the emergency room at Schuyler Hospital and pretended to suffer from a medical condition known as trygeminal neuralgia. The defendant then performed an apparent examination of her, fraudulently diagnosed her as suffering from trygeminal neuralgia and issued a prescription to her for Dilauded, a controlled substance.

In reality, Gillick’s girlfriend was not suffering from this condition and had no medical need for the drug Dilaudid. In participating in this illegal scheme, the defendant defrauded Schuyler Hospital and also aided and abetted his girlfriend in obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

“With the abuse of prescription drug medications at epidemic levels in our community and across the country, our office will not stand for a member of the medical community defrauding the health care system by illegally prescribing such medications,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “When used appropriately, prescription pain medications can be of great benefit to a patient, but when abused, they can lead to a lifetime of addiction resulting in serious, even deadly complications. Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will not hesitate to prosecute those in the medical profession who abuse  their positions of trust.”

Gillick and his girlfriend Christina Guilfoyle were arrested in November 2012. Charges are pending again Guilfoyle.

The plea is the result of an investigation on the part of special agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division; special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto, Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of James Engleman, Director of Field Operations; the New York State Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Askey; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the Lancaster Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald Gill; the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; the Depew Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stan Carwile; and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Votour.