Saturday, August 14, 2010

Black doctor involved in drug ring and Medicaid fraud

An acclaimed Harlem doctor was the boss of an Oxycontin ring that scammed $1 million from Medicaid with phony prescriptions - and sold the addictive painkillers on the streets of New York. Dr. Diana Williamson and eight others were charged as FBI agents seized 16 boxes and a computer from her Harlem community clinic that was founded as a center to help minorities with AIDS. They were all hit with conspiracy to distribute narcotics charges. The scam worked like this: Williamson would write the prescriptions for patients on Medicaid and then her cohorts would turn around and sell the pills - mostly oxycodone and the brand-name version, Oxycontin - to addicts. On the street, the pills sell for $30 to $40 each. Williamson, 54, and three of the eight others nabbed were also charged with defrauding the federal Medicaid program out of nearly $1 million since Fall 2009.

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