Bryn Mawr Doctor Illegally Distributed Oxycodone, FBI Says

By Kara Seymour

A doctor with an office in Bryn Mawr has been charged with illegally distributing pain medications and prescribing pills to meet the needs of drug addicts and traffickers, according to authorities.

Dr. Jeffrey Bado, 59, of Philadelphia has been charged for illegally distributing pain medications from his Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr medical offices, United States Attorney Zane David Memeger said in a statement.

Bado is charged with two counts of maintaining a drug-involved premises, 200 counts of illegally distributing oxycodone, 33 counts of health care fraud and four counts of making false statements to federal agents, according to the FBI, which investigated the doctor.

According to an indictment, Bado, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, provided prescriptions for large numbers of oxycodone pills to patients who paid in cash for an “office visit.”

Authorities allege that the “patient” would receive at most a “cursory physical examination” and little other medical care or treatment.

“During their first visit to Bado’s practice, new patients would still get prescriptions for large amounts of oxycodone even though they provided little or no recent medical records to verify their claim of pain, or provided medical records that were not consistent with their claims of pain,” according to a statement from the FBI.

He would allegedly comply with patient requests for pills with specific concentrations of oxycodone and would switch patients to pills with a higher street value even though there was no medical justification, the FBI said.

He continued to prescribe high amounts of oxycodone even when he knew that his patients were addicted to oxycodone, were using illegal drugs, or were not even taking the oxycodone pills as prescribed, authorities allege.

According to the indictment, Bado also committed health care insurance fraud. Authorities said the doctor billed Medicare and private insurers for patient visits that occurred in February 2010, when he was out of the office and traveling in Haiti.

Bado directed residents, nurses and other staff to see patients while he was away and told them to provide the patients with prescriptions that he had already filled out and signed, the investigation found.

“Before departing for his trip, Bado allegedly made notations in and signed medical charts to make it appear as though he had seen the patients when in fact he was away in Haiti during their appointments,” the FBI said.

If convicted of all charges, Bado faces an estimated sentencing guideline range of at least 24 years in prison with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of oxycodone distribution and maintaining a drug premises counts, 10 years in prison for each count of health care fraud, and five years in prison for each count of making false statement counts.

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