Director of California Cosmetic Surgery Center Who Fled Pending Trial Is Returned to U.S. to Face Federal Charges in Health Care Fraud Case For Billing Cosmetic Procedures to Insurance as "Medically Necessary"

Extraditions for health care fraud cases are more common now especially where the loss amounts are high. In a recent case, Linda Morrow, a Rancho Mirage woman married to a plastic surgeon, David Morrow, who had fled the United States after being named in a 31-count federal grand jury indictment in 2016, arrived in Southern California on July 1 after being deported by Israel, which had determined that she had entered that nation on a fraudulent Mexican passport. Ms. Morrow faces federal charges related to allegations that she fraudulently billed insurance companies $50 million for “medically necessary” cosmetic surgeries has been returned the United States after fleeing to Israel two years ago.

          

Ms. Morrow appeared in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on July 2, 2019 and entered a not guilty plea to a separate grand jury indictment that charges her with contempt of court for fleeing while free on bond. During that hearing, she was ordered detained and a trial date in the contempt case was scheduled for August 27. She will make another court appearance later this month to discuss the status of the pending health care fraud case.

Ms. Morrow and her husband, David Morrow, were arrested in Israel on June 16. David Morrow, who pleaded guilty in 2016 in the health care fraud case and was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in federal prison, is pending extradition proceedings in Israel. David Morrow also faces contempt of court charges for fleeing while he was pending sentencing.

West Hollywood Doctor Charged With Health Care Fraud, False Statements and Witness Tampering Relating to Billing Medicare for Human Growth Hormone Serostim and Alleged Buybacks From Patients for Resale

On July 2, 2019, a doctor James T. Lee, who operated a medical clinic in West Hollywood where he specialized in treating HIV patients was taken into custody in Vienna, Austria after waiving extradition pursuant to federal charges that allege he defrauded health insurance companies in connection with the brand-name human growth hormone Serostim.

After a federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment on June 6, Dr. Lee was arrested in Vienna at the request of the United States. Dr. Lee subsequently waived extradition and agreed to return to the United States. The indictment against Dr. Lee charges him with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, six counts of health care fraud, one count of making false statements relating to health care matters, and two counts of witness tampering. Dr. Lee is presumed innocent and charges are not evidence.

The indictment has been unsealed and the arraignment was scheduled in downtown Los Angeles. The government claims that Dr. Lee allegedly engaged in a scheme to divert Serostim – an injectable human growth hormone that is FDA-approved for HIV-positive patients – from legitimate HIV patients to other people who purchased the drug for its purported anti-aging properties. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Serostim for use only by HIV patients with wasting or cachexia who are also receiving antiretroviral therapy. 

According to the Indictment, from at least May 2011 until February 2019, Dr. Lee wrote prescriptions for Serostim to HIV patients, who obtained the drugs and used their Medicare Part D benefits to pay for the drugs. Dr. Lee or those associated with him then illegally purchased the Sersotim back from patients, so that he could re-sell the Serostim. Dr. Lee allegedly re-sold the Serostim to other patients who were not HIV-positive, and who used the human growth hormone to build muscle and for other cosmetic purposes.