ST. LOUIS (CN) - A doctor faces thousands of dollars in fines and the loss of his ability to prescribe certain drugs after a jury convicted him of defrauding the state's Medicaid program and writing unnecessary prescriptions. Dr. Seth Paskon billed Medicaid for five unnecessary treatments and wrote unnecessary prescriptions for seven patients, the jury found.
"The jury's verdict shows that Dr. Paskon was contributing to a serious prescription drug diversion problem in Missouri," U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said in a statement. "Many of Dr. Paskon's patients had substance abuse problems. Rather than address those medical problems, Dr. Paskon continued to write prescriptions for controlled substances and Medicaid continued to pay the bills. This verdict will enable Medicaid to recover these funds."
Paskon has been linked to the deaths of more than 50 patients, whom coroners claim overdosed on painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs prescribed by Paskon or died with those drugs in their system. Paskon claims that many of those patients were not his, died of unrelated causes or died from drugs not prescribed by him. Paskon has not been charged criminally in connection with any of the deaths.
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