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.
The indictment alleges a second part of the scheme in which Dr. Lee allegedly
submitted claims to health insurance companies for Serostim injections, claims
that were fraudulent because Dr. Lee did not actually provide the Serostim
injections to the patients at his office. According to the indictment, many of
the patients did not receive the full amount of Serostim that Dr. Lee billed to the
insurance companies, or they received Serostim that Dr. Lee had purchased from
other patients.
Dr. Lee allegedly twice engaged in witness tampering during meetings with a patient that were recorded without Dr. Lee’s knowledge. During those meetings, Dr. Lee allegedly encouraged the patient to provide false information to federal agents who were investigating the case. Dr. Lee allegedly coached the patient to lie about the Serostim scheme, including by falsely stating that kickback payments from Dr. Lee were merely overpayments from the insurance companies, according to the indictment.
During the course of the conspiracy, Dr. Lee and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted at
least $14.2 million in claims to the insurance companies for Serostim
injections, which resulted in payments of approximately $5.9 million, according
to the indictment. The scheme allegedly defrauded Health Net, which is a
private health benefit plan, and the Government Employees Hospital Association,
which is a health benefit plan that provides health insurance coverage to
certain former United States government employees.
Medicare allegedly paid at least $1.4 million based on Serostim prescriptions that were
issued by Lee and filled by patients who sold at least some of the drugs to
Lee. An
indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every
defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
