MT. AIRY, N.C. (WGHP) — A doctor will spend over two years behind bars and owe millions in restitution after a money laundering and healthcare fraud scheme.
According to a press release from the Middle District of North Carolina, Wendell Lewis Randall, 72, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,049,747.47 in restitution after pleading guilty to healthcare fraud and money laundering.
This sentence will run consecutively with an 18 month sentence Randall is currently serving for a conviction out of Virginia.
Randall was the owner of the National Institute of Toxicology in Mt. Airy, where he often prescribed opioids and controlled substances to his patients “without regard” to if they needed them. He would also order unnecessary drug tests for his patients on every office visit.
According to the release, from August 2018 through December 2021, Randall billed Medicare and North Carolina Medicaid for drug tests that “reimbursed at the highest pay” for nearly all of his patients that used Medicare or Medicaid. As a result, Randall got $753,446.70 from Medicare and $1,296,300.77 from Medicaid for fraudulently billed drug tests.
He used the money to make large purchases, such as a nearly $100,000 building on property near his home.
“Randall abused his position as a medical provider to gain excessive profit from
government-funded insurance programs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Galyon. “This Office
will continue to seek out fraud and abuse perpetrated on our health insurance system and
hold those responsible accountable.”
“This health care provider stole taxpayer dollars for his own profit while he worsened our state’s opioid crisis,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “Doctors have a legal and ethical responsibility to provide the quality health care that patients need. When they don’t, our office and our federal and state partners will hold them accountable.”
