Dr. George Kudmani, an OB/GYN from Kentucky, was sentenced to 4 years in prison this week after a federal jury ruled that he was guilty of inappropriately doling out opioids and Medcaid fraud.
The jury found Kudmani guilty of 19 counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances and 8 counts of health care fraud. After Kudmani serves his jail time, District judge Joseph McKinley Jr. ruled that he will spend 3 years on supervised release.
According to prosecutors, Kudmani distributed oxycodone and hydrocodone to patients who didn’t need them between July 2009 and Sept. 2012. Some patients told the jury that they paid cash for the prescriptions.
He also charged patients $75 for an initial gynecological exam and $35 for a follow-up, but no exam was conducted. Instead, he would prescribe the patients unnecessary painkillers.
Prosecutors also said that Kudmani fraudulently billed Medicaid for transvaginal ultrasounds that he never performed. He also billed the state for reports from those ultrasounds.
“Despite his physician’s oath to do no harm, Dr. George Kudmani recklessly prescribed opioids, for no legitimate medical purpose, to patients suffering from substance use disorders,” U.S. Attorney John Kuhn said, according to Law360. “I hope today’s sentence will bring some measure of closure to those patients and families harmed by Dr. Kudmani. I hope, too, this sentence will send a message to physicians that prescribing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical care will be punished.”
