Havertown doc gets house arrest in fraud scheme

PHILADELPHIA » A Havertown doctor who imported unapproved injectable medications then falsely billed health care benefit programs for approximately $2.3 million was sentenced to one day in prison and 12 months of home confinement Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage additionally sentenced Dr. Thomas J. Whalen to three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $1.1 million in restitution and a fine of $25,000, according to a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney William McSwain, of the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania.

Whalen, a 65-year-old Rheumatologist, pleaded to a criminal information in December charging him with one count of health care fraud, one count of importation contrary to law and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance for unlawfully distributing oxycodone to patients actively using illicit drugs.

He had owned and operated Whalen Rheumatology Group with locations in Havertown, Exton and Wilmington, and his practice included using expensive live cell medications like Remicade Synvisc and Boniva that were administrated by injection and infusion.

Rather than purchase pricey FDA-approved versions of the medicines from authorized distributors, federal prosecutors said Whalen bought cheaper, non-FDA approved versions for use on his unsuspecting patients. He then billed federal health care programs as though he had used the FDA-approved versions of the medicines, pocketing approximately $1.1 million in illicit proceeds.

The information also identified two patients who also received oxycodone prescriptions from Whalen despite multiple drug screening results that showed they were simultaneously abusing cocaine and heroin.