A Doctor From Montco Who Ran A 'Pill Mill' At Philly Practice Gets 20 Years In Prison

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, PA — A local man who ran a prescription 'pill mill' out of his medical practice in the City of Philadelphia, sending patients home with a "goodie bag" full of controlled substances after office visits, has received a 20-year federal prison term, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced this week.

Andrew Berkowitz, 62, of Huntingdon Valley, was also ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution and a $40,000 fine after he received his sentence Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia.

Berkowitz, who ran A+ Pain Management in the city, was indicted back in June 2019.

He pleaded guilty in January 2020 to 19 counts of health care fraud and 23 counts of distributing oxycodone outside the course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, according to federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that Berkowitz's scheme involved fraudulently billing insurers for medically unnecessary physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments and prescription drugs, as well as for treatments that were never provided at all.

Prosecutors said that Berkowitz would also send every patient home with a "goodie bag" containing a variety of drugs including muscle relaxers, topical pain analgesics, and even Schedule IV controlled substances such as Tramadol.

He would also prescribe the opioid oxycodone to "pill-seeking" patients in exchange for their tacit approval that he would submit excessive claims to their insurers for the goodie bag and other medical unnecessary services, according to prosecutors.

Berkowitz reportedly obtained more than an estimated $4 million in fraudulent proceeds from his scheme from 2015 to 2018.

"Doctors who dare engage in healthcare fraud and drug diversion, two drivers of the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities, should heed this sentence as a warning that they will be held responsible, criminally and financially," U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement. "Our office will continue to root out healthcare fraud and drug diversion in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in all its forms."

In addition to the criminal case, Berkowitz is also subject to a civil judgment in which he must pay around $1.8 million as a result of his violating the False Claims Act relating to the false claims he had submitted to the federal Medicare drug program.

Berkowitz was also barred from ever again being permitted to prescribe, distribute or dispense controlled substances.