Red Flag Warning
until MON 9:00 PM CDT, Pennington County, North Beltrami County, South Beltrami County, Norman County, West Otter Tail County, Red Lake County, Lake Of The Woods County, East Marshall County, West Polk County, Hubbard County, Roseau County, Mahnomen County, East Otter Tail County, North Clearwater County, East Polk County, South Clearwater County, West Becker County, Grant County, East Becker County, Wadena County, Kittson County, Wilkin County, Clay County, West Marshall County, Swift County, Watonwan County, Stearns County, Pope County, Hennepin County, Kanabec County, Freeborn County, Redwood County, Kandiyohi County, Sibley County, Benton County, Morrison County, Washington County, Mille Lacs County, Renville County, Sherburne County, Lac Qui Parle County, Isanti County, Waseca County, Chisago County, Goodhue County, Douglas County, Martin County, Brown County, Steele County, Nicollet County, Ramsey County, Scott County, Blue Earth County, McLeod County, Yellow Medicine County, Stevens County, Anoka County, Wright County, Faribault County, Rice County, Dakota County, Meeker County, Todd County, Le Sueur County, Northern Aitkin County, South Itasca County, Pine County, South Cass County, Koochiching County, Carlton/South St. Louis Counties, Central St. Louis County, North St. Louis County, Crow Wing County, North Itasca County, North Cass County, Northern Cook/Northern Lake Counties, South Aitkin County, Traverse County, Big Stone County, Lyon County, Lincoln County, Cottonwood County, Rock County, Murray County, Pipestone County, Jackson County, Nobles County, Dunn County, Barron County, Pierce County, Polk County, Douglas County, Washburn County, Burnett County
4

Charges: Minn. doctor collected $40K writing fake pain cream prescriptions

A Bloomington, Minn. doctor was indicted for writing false pain medication prescriptions in exchange for more than $40,000 in kickbacks from a pharmacy.

From February 2011 through December 2014, Dr. Elena Lev Polukhin, 58, a pain management and rehabilitation specialist and CEO of Rehabilitation Consultants in Bloomington, Minn. referred nearly all the patients she prescribed pain relief cream to the same pharmacy, Best Aid, according to a news release.

According to court documents, Boris Leo Rabichev, the manager and part-owner at Best Aid and Richard Wayne Custer, a pharmacist, compounded pain creams using bulk-powder forms of the various ingredients called for by the prescriptions and dispensed in the pain creams to customers. After filling the prescriptions, Best Aid would inflate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements by falsely representing how the creams were made. 

In exchange for referring all the prescriptions to their pharmacy, Best Aid employees wrote at least 20 checks to the Roife-Nissenbaum Trust, a charitable trust founded by Polukhin, who also served as its chair and president. Prosecutors say Polukhin received more than $40,000 in kickbacks.

Polukhin also wrote prescriptions for morphine and oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose. 
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said in a statement Wednesday Polukhin abused her position as a doctor.

“As charged, this defendant abused her position as a doctor, took kickbacks and participated in a significant fraud of Medicare and Medicaid,” said U.S. Attorney Luger. “In addition to funneling kickbacks through a charitable non-profit, Dr. Polukhin wrote unwarranted prescriptions for pain cream and prescribed opioids without any legitimate medical purpose. As Minnesota continues to struggle with our pain pill problem, it is cases like this that so clearly demonstrate the lengths to which some will go to abuse the health care system.”

Polukhin is being charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, 20 counts of soliciting and receiving kickbacks, three counts of health care fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of distribution of controlled substances.