Ex-doctor at addiction clinic gets 3 years federal probation

A former UPMC gynecologist was sentenced Wednesday to home confinement and probation for illegally prescribing Suboxone and a similar drug while working as a contract doctor at an addiction clinic with offices in Washington County and West Virginia.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ordered that Michael Bummer, 40, of Sewickley, be placed on home confinement for 180 days. He’ll also be on probation for three years and pay both a fine of $20,000 and restitution of $156,902.

Bummer was one of five doctors accused of illegally prescribing drugs at Redirections Treatment Advocates, based in Washington, Pa. He worked full time at UPMC in various positions but worked under contract at RTA for a day every other week.

He and the other doctors were accused of conspiring with owner Jennifer Hess to issue prescriptions outside the scope of legitimate medical practice. Bummer entered a guilty plea in 2018 to doling out Suboxone for cash.

Redirections had eight doctors under contract authorized to treat opioid addicts by prescribing Subutex and Suboxone. The clinic only accepted cash or credit cards but no insurance. An initial visit was $175 and subsequent visits $120.

Bummer and the other doctors conducted minimal exams on patients on the first visit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar said, and didn’t do follow-up visits unless requested by the patient. No counselors did any of the required drug abuse counseling.

Bummer and the others presigned blank prescriptions in advance that were provided by Hess. Chris Handa, the manager at RTA, or others filled in the patient’s name, date and prescription. The doctors were not in the office when the prescriptions were written. Sometimes, Mr. Cessar said, Hess or Handa signed the doctors’ names on the prescriptions.

Prosecutors described Bummer as a “drug dealer in a white lab coat” and said he deserves a sentence that will send a message to others like him.

“The defendant is unlike most drug dealers who appear before this court,” wrote Mr. Cessar and Mike Ivory, another assistant U.S. attorney. “He is a well-educated professional to whom much was given and from whom much was asked. The court’s sentence must be sufficiently robust to serve as a deterrent for other drug-dealing physicians.”

But Bummer and his lawyer, Brian Bevan, said he was duped by the clinic owner, Hess, who has pleaded guilty in the case.

Mr. Bevan said Bummer wanted to help addicts and agreed to treat them when approached by Hess, his friend. Mr. Bevan said the doctor thought

her clinics looked legitimate.

“Despite having the best of intentions to treat victims of the opioid epidemic, Dr. Bummer misplaced his trust in the clinic staff, mistakenly followed their improper guidance and as a result, engaged in aberrant, unlawful conduct,” Mr. Bevan wrote in a pre-sentencing filings. Bummer said the same. “It was never my intention to violate the law,” he said in a statement to U.S. probation officers. “My entire life has been conducted with a commitment to truth, transparency, and strong Christian values.”

He said he trusted Hess and Handa, both of whom have pleaded guilty, but acknowledged that what he did was wrong and said he “will forever regret” his actions at RTA.

Bummer has lost his medical license.

The $156,902 restitution order pertains to losses to Medicare and Medicaid when Bummer’s patients used their insurance to fill the prescriptions at pharmacies.

Federal agents had used invisible ink to catch Bummer and other doctors.

On July 12, 2017, they marked blank, pre-signed scripts of Bummer’s with invisible ink. Mr. Cessar said the scripts were kept in the trunk of a car that drove among the various RTA facilities and were presigned by several doctors.

Patients received Bummer’s marked scripts on Aug. 16, 2017, but they had never seen him. He and others also signed progress forms for patients to make it seem like they were being monitored even though they hadn’t been examined.

Hess is awaiting sentencing and Handa received probation. Among the other four doctors charged, Madhu Aggarwal, of Moon, received probation, and her husband, Krishan Aggarwal, was acquitted at trial in federal court in West Virginia along with Cherian John, of Coraopolis.

A fifth doctor, Parth Bharill, has pleaded guilty in West Virginia.