A Perrysburg family physician has been charged in a healthcare fraud scheme for her role in writing fake prescriptions, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo.
Suzette L. Huenefeld, 53, is charged with healthcare fraud after she allegedly conspired with Kevin Clay, Matthew Maluchnik, and Loni Peace to defraud healthcare benefit programs — Medical Mutual of Ohio, CVS Pharmacy, and others. She is accused of prescribing more than $10 million worth of compounding creams from 2014 through June, 2016, according to a bill of information filed against her June 25.
Dr. Huenefeld’s case was assigned to Judge Jack Zouhary, but court records didn’t show a date for her first appearance as of Friday morning. David Klucas, Dr. Huenefeld’s defense lawyer, declined to comment Friday.
Both Peace and Maluchnik previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and are scheduled for sentencing Nov. 22 by Judge Zouhary. Mr. Clay is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Aug. 23.
Together, the four defendants’ goal was to “unlawfully enrich themselves by causing healthcare insurance companies to issue reimbursements for expensive medically unnecessary compounded medications, collecting a percentage of those reimbursements and failing to disclose to the insurance companies that ‘patients’ were being paid for their own prescriptions,” according to a criminal complaint against Mr. Clay that also identified co-defendants’ alleged roles.
Mr. Clay and Maluchnik in March, 2014 co-founded Theramedical, LLC, later identified as Theramedical Compounding, LLC. Theramedical operated as a marketing or sales firm to market compounded pain and scar creams, and later topical gels and a “wellness” supplement.
Mr. Clay and Maluchnik met with the owner of an unnamed compounding pharmacy in Cleveland whose owner agreed to fill prescriptions, manufacture the creams and gels, and bill insurers. The pharmacy owner would then take 70 percent of the insurance money and provide the rest of the funds to Mr. Clay and Maluchnik for each prescription, the criminal complaint states.
A compounded medication is a drug product mixed to create medication tailored to the needs of particular patients, and the costs to insurance companies ranged from several hundred dollars to over $10,000 per prescription, according to the charges.
The pharmacy owner provided prescription pads for compounding creams intended to be given to patients.
Dr. Huenefeld, who received her medical license in 1994, specializes in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics, according to the Ohio Professional Licensure System.
Maluchnik went to Dr. Huenefeld’s medical practice in Perrysburg and requested a pain cream, according to a criminal complaint. He gave the physician the pharmacy’s prescription paper and Dr. Huenefeld allegedly wrote the prescription.
The pharmacy owner informed Maluchnik that FiatChrysler Automotive insurance carriers, like Medical Mutual of Ohio and Blue Cross Blue Shield, covered these types of compounding prescriptions and their employees thus might be good targets, according to the criminal complaint.
Peace, who is related to Maluchnik and worked for Jeep, was asked to recruit other Jeep employees to obtain compounding prescriptions, the charges state.
Those who were willing to receive compounded medications used pre-formulated prescription forms prior to being evaluated by a doctor and distributed these pre-formulated prescription forms to other patients before the doctor visit, according to court documents. That form was then submitted to Dr. Huenefeld for approval based on the recruited beneficiaries’ request for a compounded medication.
The scheme’s leaders provided a kickback to the patients and those who recruited them in the form of an IRS Form 1099 from Theramedical.
“The ultimate goal was to generate as many prescriptions for pre-formulated, expensive, and medically unnecessary compounded medications, rather than prescribe an FDA-approved medication or medication tailor-made to the unique needs of the patients,” according to the complaint.
Dr. Huenefeld prescribed at least $7.37 million worth of compounding creams during 2014 and at least $3.19 million worth in 2015. Of these compounding creams, approximately $3.74 million were for Jeep employees who received payment for their personal prescriptions, the allegations state.
First Published July 2, 2021, 2:36 p.m.
