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Federal Telemedicine Fraud Charges – What You Need to Know

Federal Telemedicine Fraud Charges – What You Need to Know

Federal agents just knocked on your door. Or you received a target letter from the Department of Justice. Or a former colleague told you that investigators have been asking questions about orders you signed for a telemedicine company. Your first instinct might be to think this is some kind of misunderstanding – you’re a licensed physician, you reviewed patient information before signing, you thought the telemedicine platform was legitimate. Heres the first thing you need to understand: telemedicine fraud prosecutions have exploded. In the 2025 National Healthcare Fraud Takedown, 49 defendants were charged specifically for telemedicine and genetic testing schemes involving $1.17 billion in fraudulent claims. Jamie P. McNamara received 10 years in federal prison – the maximum allowed by law – for a $174 million telemedicine fraud conspiracy. These arnt theoretical outcomes.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We handle federal healthcare fraud defense cases regularly, including cases were physicians first realize theyre facing serious criminal exposure through exactly this kind of contact. The second thing you need to understand is this: the Department of Justice has made telemedicine fraud an enforcement priority. In 2024, 36 defendants faced charges for $1.1 billion in telemedicine and laboratory fraud. The DOJ announced it “continues to focus on eliminating health care fraud schemes that depend on telemedicine.” They are creating a Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center using artificial intelligence to identify fraud patterns. Federal prosecutors are actively targeting physicians who signed orders through telemedicine platforms – and the sentences are devastating.

Heres something most physicians dont realize about telemedicine fraud. The paradox is brutal. You can be convicted for “treating” patients you never spoke to. You can be convicted for signing orders that were medically necessary – if you accepted payment to sign them through a kickback arrangement. The crime isnt failing to provide good telehealth care. The crime is signing orders without a legitimate physician-patient relationship. The crime is accepting per-order payments that constitute kickbacks. The crime is becoming a signature factory for companies that bill Medicare for orders you rubber-stamped.

The Orders That Create Criminal Liability

Heres the uncomfortable truth about telemedicine fraud. Everything depends on how you signed those orders and what you knew when you signed them.

Pre-populated orders are the core of most schemes. Telemarketers call Medicare beneficiaries. They collect information about symptoms and conditions. They generate medical orders with diagnosis codes already filled in. Those orders are sent to telemedicine doctors who sign them – often without any patient contact. The labs and DME companies bill Medicare based on those signed orders. Everyone gets paid. Everyone goes to prison.

Alabama Doctor Robinson signed orders “without ever having contact” with patients. Between December 2018 and March 2021, he worked with telemedicine companies to sign pre-populated medical documentation for durable medical equipment and genetic testing. He had no medical relationship with the beneficiaries. He never contacted them. Over $6 million in claims were submitted based on his signatures.

John R. Manning, MD submitted more than $41 million in false claims. He signed orders “based on only a brief conversation with a patient, or often no conversation at all.” He received approximately $812,000 in kickbacks for signing orders for unnecessary cancer genetic tests and medical equipment. He recieved 3 years in federal prison.

Think about what that means for physicians who worked with telemedicine companies. If you signed orders without proper patient contact, each order is a potential false claim. If you were paid per order, each payment is a potential kickback. If the orders were pre-populated, the pre-population itself is evidence of a scheme. The documentation you signed is the evidence that convicts you.

The Telemarketing Pipeline

Heres something about telemedicine fraud that creates massive criminal exposure. The way patients enter the system reveals the fraudulent nature of the entire operation.

Telemarketers are not marketing – theyre manufacturing false orders. They cold-call Medicare beneficiaries. They offer “free” genetic tests or medical equipment. They collect symptom information using scripts. They generate medical orders pre-populated with diagnosis codes. Those orders go to telemedicine doctors for signatures. The doctors sign. The labs and DME companies bill Medicare.

The payment chain reveals the kickback structure. In one international scheme, defendants agreed to pay a doctor $35 per prescription. That doctor wrote prescriptions without speaking to patients in exchange for those payments. The scheme caused $37 million in losses to TRICARE, Medicare, and private insurers. Thirty-five dollars per signature times thousands of signatures equals massive fraud – and massive criminal exposure.

One Ohio doctor accepted $291,000 in kickbacks. She pleaded guilty to three felony charges. She will be ordered to pay $7.2 million in restitution. The kickbacks she received were a fraction of what Medicare paid. The restitution she owes is crushing.

Heres the irony that destroys physicians. Telemedicine companies present themselves as legitamate healthcare platforms. They recruit doctors for “telehealth opportunities.” They talk about expanding access to care. But the actual operation is a signature factory. The telemarketers find patients. The software generates orders. The doctors sign. The companies bill. Everyone profits until federal agents arrive.

The “Happy Clicker” Problem

Heres something about telemedicine fraud that has an industry name. Investigators call them “Happy Clickers” – physicians who click to approve orders without reading them.

Operation “Happy Clickers” resulted in $7.3 million in enforcement actions. Marketers called Medicare beneficiaries soliciting them for medically unnecessary braces and cancer genetic testing. They paid medical practitioners to sign orders under the guise of telemedicine. One practitioner was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to repay $5.7 million to Medicare.

A Montana nurse practitioner was convicted on multiple counts. She worked with staffing and telemedicine companies to receive money for signing unnecessary brace orders. She often signed without ever talking to patients. Medicare paid approximately $5.1 million on the orders she signed. She received at least $124,900 in kickbacks. She recieved 87 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution.

The scaling creates the exposure. Happy Clickers sign orders quickly becuase thats how they get paid. More signatures, more payments. But each signature is a potential false claim. Each payment is a potential kickback. A physician who signs 500 orders a month creates 6,000 false claims per year. At $27,894 per false claim in penalties, the exposure reaches hundreds of millions.

Heres the consequence cascade. You join a telemedicine platform. They send you orders to review and sign. You sign dozens or hundreds per day becuase the pay is per order. Years later, the platform is investigated. They cooperate with the government and provide records of every doctor who signed orders. Your name is on thousands of orders. Now youre a target.

The Cases That Show What Happens

If you think telemedicine fraud prosecutions are theoretical, look at what actualy happens to physicians and telemedicine operators.

Jamie P. McNamara operated laboratories that obtained orders through telemarketers. Aggressive campaigns induced Medicare beneficiaries to agree to genetic testing. Telemedicine doctors who were not the patients’ treating physicians signed the orders. They did not perform consultations. They did not follow up after testing. McNamara paid illegal kickbacks disguised through sham contracts. The FBI noted the court sentenced him “to the maximum allowed by law considering his complete and total disrespect for the system.” He recieved 10 years in federal prison.

The owner of Expansion Media pleaded guilty to a $110 million Medicare fraud scheme. Telemarketing companies targeted Medicare beneficiaries and paid per-order to generate DME orders. Medical staffing companies recruited doctors and nurses to sign pre-populated orders without any patient contact. The scheme submitted $110 million in fraudulent claims.

Done Health’s CEO and Clinical President were arrested. Ruthia He and David Brody face charges for an alleged Adderall distribution and healthcare fraud scheme. They each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. The case demonstrates that telemedicine fraud extends beyond DME and lab testing to controlled substance prescriptions.

Hafizullah Ebady pleaded guilty to his role in a $1.7 billion international scheme. The defendants allegedly operated out of Moscow and acquired pharmacies across the United States. The scheme involved fraudulent prescription billings from over 50 pharmacies. The scale is almost incomprehensible – one scheme, $1.7 billion.

These arnt unusual cases. They represent standard enforcement outcomes. The prison sentences reach the statutory maximum. The restitution orders are in the millions and tens of millions. The consequences are career-ending.

How Telemedicine Investigations Begin

Heres something about how these cases develop that should concern every physician who worked with telemedicine companies. Investigations often begin long before anyone contacts you.

The Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center uses AI to identify patterns. The DOJ announced it is working with HHS-OIG, FBI, and other agencies to leverage cloud computing and artificial intelligence to identify emerging fraud schemes. Your billing patterns are compared against norms. If you signed significantly more orders then similar physicians, thats flagged. If your orders correlate with known telemedicine fraud companies, thats flagged.

Telemedicine companies become cooperating witnesses. When the government investigates a telemedicine platform, the platform identifies every physician who signed orders. When they investigate telemarketing companies, those companies identify every telemedicine company they worked with. You may become a target becuase someone in your chain was investigated first.

Whistleblowers have massive financial incentive to report. Under the False Claims Act qui tam provisions, whistleblowers can receive 15-30% of government recoveries. The billing staff at telemedicine companies, the telemarketers themselves, your colleagues – anyone who sees something questionable has powerful financial motivation to report it.

OIG issued a Special Fraud Alert in 2022. The alert warned physicians to exercise caution with telemedicine company arrangements. If you ignored that warning and continued signing orders, prosecutors will argue you knew the arrangements were problematic. The alert itself becomes evidence of your knowledge.

Heres the consequence cascade. A telemedicine company is investigated. They cooperate and provide records of every physician who signed orders. The government analyzes those records. Physicians who signed large volumes without patient contact are identified. Federal agents show up at your door. The investigation that started with someone else ends with charges against you.

The COVID Telehealth Trap

Heres something about telemedicine fraud that caught hundreds of providers. The COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities that prosecutors are still pursuing.

COVID emergency rules were exploited for fraud. CMS relaxed telehealth restrictions during the public health emergency. Geographic restrictions were lifted. Audio-only visits were permitted. Established patient relationships were waived in some circumstances. These relaxations were meant to expand access. Fraudsters used them to expand billing.

The 2023 COVID-19 Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action targeted pandemic exploitation. Criminal charges were brought against doctors and providers for false billings. Provider Relief Fund fraud was prosecuted. Individuals who fraudulently charged Medicare for over-the-counter COVID testing kits faced charges. Losses exceeded $203 million in that single enforcement action.

Labs added unnecessary tests to COVID orders. Patients came for COVID testing. Labs added genetic tests, respiratory pathogen panels, and allergy tests that were never requested. Telemedicine doctors signed orders authorizing tests patients didnt know about. What seemed like pandemic response was actualy fraud multiplication.

Heres the irony that should terrify every physician who expanded telehealth during COVID. The pandemic genuinly required telehealth expansion. Many physicians legitimately adapted their practices. But prosecutors are now scrutinizing every COVID-era billing pattern. If your telehealth volume spiked during the pandemic, you face investigation. The emergency that seemed like an opportunity has become an enforcement priority.

What You Cannot Do When Investigated

Heres what physicians do when they learn about investigations. They panic. They try to fix things. They make decisions that create additional criminal exposure.

Do NOT destroy or alter documentation. Order records, patient files, contracts with telemedicine companies, payment records. Destroying any of this is obstruction of justice. The government probly already has copies through Medicare claims data and records seized from the telemedicine company. Destruction proves consciousness of guilt while accomplishing nothing.

Do NOT contact telemedicine companies or other physicians to coordinate stories. If you signed orders for a telemedicine company that’s being investigated, your natural instinct is to talk to the company or other physicians involved. Dont. Coordinating testimony is witness tampering. They may already be cooperating with the government. Your conversation could be recorded.

Do NOT assume your medical license protects you. Being a licensed physician dosent mean you cant be prosecuted for fraud. In the 2025 takedown, 96 of the 324 defendants were doctors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other licensed medical professionals. Your license dosent protect you – it makes you a bigger target becuase you should have known better.

Do NOT assume cooperation will protect you. Physicians often think full cooperation will result in leniency. Cooperation might help at sentencing if youre convicted. But it dosent prevent prosecution. Everything you say to investigators can be used against you. You need an attorney before you say anything.

The Kickback Arrangements That Destroy Careers

Heres something about telemedicine fraud that creates the criminal exposure. The payment structure itself is the crime.

Per-order payments are kickbacks. If a telemedicine company pays you for each order you sign, thats a kickback. It dosent matter that you reviewed patient information. It dosent matter that some orders might have been medically appropriate. Payment tied to volume of orders is payment to induce referrals. Thats exactly what the Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits.

One international scheme paid $35 per prescription. A doctor wrote prescriptions without speaking to patients in exchange for those payments. The losses reached $37 million. Thirty-five dollars per signature times thousands of signatures equals massive fraud – and massive criminal exposure.

The Ohio doctor received $291,000 in kickbacks. But she’s ordered to pay $7.2 million in restitution. The kickbacks were a tiny fraction of what Medicare paid. The restitution reflects the full fraud amount. The math is brutal.

Heres the hidden connection most physicians miss. The telemedicine company makes money when you sign orders. They pay you to sign orders. The labs and DME companies bill Medicare based on your signatures. Everyone in the chain is connected by financial incentives that flow from Medicare claims. Everyone in the chain faces federal prosecution.

The Exclusion That Ends Everything

Heres something about telemedicine fraud convictions that physicians need to understand. Federal conviction triggers mandatory exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid, and all federal healthcare programs.

Exclusion means you cannot bill federal programs. You cannot treat Medicare or Medicaid patients. You cannot work for any employer that bills federal healthcare programs – which is virtually every hospital, clinic, and medical practice in America. Your medical career is effectively over.

Even avoiding prison dosent save your career. A plea that avoids prison time might still result in exclusion. A civil settlement might trigger exclusion. The Montana NP received 87 months in prison AND is excluded. John R. Manning received 3 years in prison AND is excluded. The punishment extends far beyond incarceration.

The punishment extends for decades. You serve your time. You pay your fines. You complete supervised release. But you still cant practice medicine becuase youre excluded from federal programs. Your career is over permanantly.

What You Should Do Right Now

If federal investigators have contacted you, or if you signed orders for telemedicine companies that might trigger scrutiny, heres exactly what you should do:

Contact a federal healthcare fraud defense attorney immediatly. Not a medical malpractice lawyer. Not your personal attorney. Someone who specificaly handles federal healthcare fraud cases and understands how these investigations become prosecutions.

Do NOT speak to investigators without counsel. Federal agents may approach you for a “voluntary” interview. There is nothing voluntary about it. Anything you say can be used to build the case against you. Politely decline and contact an attorney immediatly.

Preserve all documentation exactly as it is. Contracts with telemedicine companies, payment records, patient communications, order records. Do not alter, destroy, or organize anything. Document preservation is critical.

Identify all telemedicine relationships. Every company you signed orders for. Every payment arrangement. Every volume of orders. Your attorney needs to understand the full scope of potential exposure.

Do NOT discuss the investigation with anyone except your attorney. Not colleagues. Not staff. Not the telemedicine company. Anyone you talk to can be compelled to testify. Only attorney-client communications are protected.

Todd Spodek tells every physician in this situation the same thing: federal telemedicine fraud investigations are serious criminal matters. Jamie P. McNamara got 10 years – the maximum. The Montana NP got 87 months. John R. Manning got 3 years. Your response in the next few days could determine wheather this becomes a matter that resolves favorably – or federal charges that destroy your career and your freedom.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. Before you speak to investigators. Before you make decisions that create additional exposure. Before orders you signed become a federal prosecution.

Telemedicine fraud is a federal enforcement priority. The DOJ charged 49 defendants for $1.17 billion in 2025 alone. What you do next matters enormosly.