Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Local doctor guilty of health care fraud
Charles J. Gartland of Cochranville wrote bogus prescriptions
HARRISBURG » A 59-year-old Chester County doctor pleaded guilty Tuesday to health care fraud after he devised a scheme to defraud two health care benefit programs by writing hundreds of prescriptions for Morphine, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Fentanyl and other controlled substances.
Charles J. Gartland, of Cochranville, pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Susan E. Schwab to one count of health care fraud and one count of obtaining possession of a controlled substance by deception.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Gartland perpetrated a scheme to defraud two health care benefit programs, WellSpan Health of York, and Medicare, by writing 221 prescriptions between September 2014 and August 2017, for Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Fentanyl, Morphine and other controlled substances. The prescriptions were issued by Gartland under the names of three of his family members. Of the 221 prescriptions, 194 were for 17,187 Hydrocodone-Ibuprofen 7.5-200 mg pills.
The prescriptions were never intended for the medical care or treatment of the family members, but instead were intended for Dr. Gartland’s personal use. As such, the prescriptions were outside the scope of professional medical practice and were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose.
According to the indictment, Gartland filled the prescriptions at five pharmacies in York, Chester and Lancaster counties. It’s alleged that Gartland deceived the pharmacies into giving him the pills by making them believe they were intended for his family members. WellSpan and Medicare were allegedly defrauded when they paid claims submitted by the pharmacies for the prescriptions.
Judge Schwab released Gartland on supervised release pend-
ing completion of a PreSentence Report. No date has yet been set for sentencing.
Gartland, who had been affiliated with WellSpan
Internal Medicine, was terminated from his job on Nov. 17, and was indicted Nov. 29.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and the Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Health care fraud is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Obtaining
possession of a controlled substance by deception is punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including: the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.