Former Pharmacist Ordered to Pay More than $2 Million

(COSHOCTON, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven Dettelbach announced today that a former Coshocton pharmacist has been ordered to pay more than $2 million in funds she obtained through fraudulent billing practices.

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Judge David Dowd sentenced Barbara Elise Miller to four and a half years in prison this afternoon. She was also ordered to pay $2,163,000 in restitution.

In September, Miller pleaded guilty to five counts of Health Care Fraud and one count of Adulteration of Drugs after an investigation found that she fraudulently received more than $2 million from state, federal, and private medical insurance companies by way of fraudulent billing practices.

"This defendant likely thought she could get away with these crimes, but there are checks and balances in place to make sure that those engaging in heath care fraud don't get away with it," said Attorney General DeWine.

“This defendant not only defrauded victims out of millions of dollars, but her adulteration of drugs also caused health complications for a child,” Dettelbach said.

The crimes happened during Miller's time as the owner and operator of Coshocton's Three Rivers Infusion and Pharmacy Specialists, a medial infusion supply company which also provided home health services and medical supplies.

Between 2003 and 2009, investigators found that Miller knowingly and willfully executed a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs such as Ohio Medicaid, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Ohio, TriCare, and Medicare.

The investigation found that Miller filed more than a million dollars worth of claims for services using a false provider name, overstated the amount of nursing time needed to provide certain injections, and made fraudulent claims regarding the dosage and frequency of which certain drugs were dispensed.

Miller also pleaded guilty to altering the purity, quality, and strength of the drug Kineret, which is used to reduce the pain and swelling associated with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Today's sentence will run concurrently with a previous sentence of 27 months handed down in a separate case.

The case was prosecuted by attorneys with Ohio Attorney General DeWine's Health Care Fraud Section and the office of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven Dettelbach. The case was investigated by Attorney General DeWine's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Ohio Department of Insurance, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.