A doctor and patient were charged with insurance fraud for billing over $850,000 to an insurance provider for medically unnecessary prescriptions.
Between May 2014 and September 2014, Sabina Maciel Acevedo, 48, who lives in Anaheim, is accused of completing four compound cream prescription forms for herself and three immediate family members without receiving medical examinations.
Dr. David Todd Asher, 50, who lives in Fullerton, is accused of signing all of the forms without examining any of the family members or customizing each prescription. He was a graduate of the Dartmouth Medical School in 1997.
The completed prescription forms were sent to San Dimas Pharmacy in Bakersfield to be fulfilled, and the pharmacy billed $855,210 to Acevedo’s prescription insurance, Express Scripts, which is provided through the Santa Ana Unified School District.
Acevedo is accused of receiving $19,504.57 in kickbacks for fulfilling these prescriptions through San Dimas Pharmacy.
Express Scripts and SAUSD noticed the unusual charges and contacted the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Investigation, who investigated this case.
Dr. Asher has been charged with Insurance fraud with sentencing enhancement allegations for over $100,000 loss and an aggravated white collar crime over $500,000. He faces 13 years and eight months in state prison.
His patient, Sabina Aceedo has been charged with insurance fraud and grand theft with a sentencing enhancement allegations of a crime resulting in over$100,000 loss.
Asher was previously prosecuted in the United States District Court, Central District of California in February 2007. He was charged with conspiracy and illegal kickbacks for patient referrals. He plead guilty to the conspiracy charge in October, 2007 and placed on probation. He stipulated to discipline with the Medical Board for that offense.
Asher now faces new disciplinary charges by the California Medical Board for his conduct while a medical director of Reflections Recovery Center in Costa Mesa. The second charge appears to be related to his signing prescriptions for compounded medications for several patients who had filled out the prescription.