A Medical Board of California investigation report weaves an intricate tale of possible prescription fraud involving three different “Brendas” seeking painkillers and other drugs throughout Bakersfield.
http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html
The only real Brenda — physician Brenda Steinberg — is the subject of an investigation into alleged fraud and forged prescriptions, according to a probable cause statement filed in Kern County Superior Court to obtain a search warrant.
Brenda Steinberg and her husband, Russell Enoch, both doctors of osteopathic medicine, did not return a written request for an interview left at their home.
Neither has been charged with a crime in Kern County, according to the Superior Court website.
The Medical Board started unraveling the story earlier this year after a Drug Enforcement Agency investigator told it about a Target pharmacist’s concerns, according to the probable cause statement filed by a Medical Board investigator.
That pharmacist noticed Steinberg was receiving prescriptions “of controlled substances” from her husband, Enoch. The pharmacist and her staff also deduced that Steinberg herself was prescribing controlled substances — some on her husband’s prescription pad — to another Brenda, whose date of birth was just one month away from her own, the filings say.
The pharmacist called Enoch’s assistant, who confirmed Steinberg was his wife. But when Enoch got on the phone, he said she was a coworker “who was new and did not have her own prescriptions and was using his in the meantime,” according to the search warrant document.
Medical board investigator Todd Baker began searching for the second Brenda, Brenda Bitner, whom he couldn’t prove existed. He looked at a surveillance camera and Steinberg’s DMV picture, and found the mysterious Bitner and Steinberg were both white woman with brown to reddish-brown hair, Baker reported.
The investigator also examined a government database that details prescriptions of controlled substances. He found records of Steinberg prescribing to a third Brenda as well, Brenda Wheeler, according to the court documents.
They say all three “Brendas” were born in 1970, one month apart; they all lived on the same street in west Bakersfield; and they received the same dosage of substances commonly known by the brand names Vicodin, Norco, Valium and Ambien. When they signed their names, all wrote in cursive with a similarly scripted “B’s.”
But despite their similarities, none of the “Brendas” used the same Bakersfield pharmacy — though a majority were on the west side of town, close to Steinberg’s home, he wrote in the probable cause statement.
The two “Brendas” that Baker suspected of being fabricated lived at the same nonexistent address.
“Based on this information, I felt Dr. Steinberg was submitting prescriptions for Bitner and Wheeler, both fictitious people, in order to get the controlled substance for herself, whether for personal use or to sell and give away,” Baker wrote.
For one particular month, he added up the Brendas’ prescriptions for the drug commonly called Vicodin: 480 tablets, filings say. He spoke with the board’s medical consultant and found that amount “…if taken by one person during the time frame in which it was obtained, can cause liver failure in addition to any complications such as respiratory depression….”
Enoch works for Kaiser in internal medicine, but the investigator couldn’t find any current employment for Steinberg — though Medical Board records show her license is current. Hospital staff at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County said she worked there from about January to May 2011 — during which time the search warrant details numerous prescriptions for the allegedly fake Brendas.
“The colonel in charge of the emergency department stated he remembered that Dr. Steinberg suffered from some type of back injury,” the investigator wrote. “While a seeming innocuous statement, a lot of drug diversion occurs following people taking controlled substances for legitimate medical issues. Some people’s legitimate use turns into an addiction that cases some people to seek additional controlled substances via illegal means.”
The investigator concluded that the conduct he described violated California’s health and safety codes regarding fraud and forged prescriptions, both punishable as misdemeanor or felonies.
While the Medical Board of California can decide on disciplinary action leading up to a doctor’s license being revoked, any criminal matters are turned over to the district attorney, spokeswoman Jennifer Simoes said.
Since the two doctors involved are osteopathic physicians, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California would handle any disciplinary action. Because they are a smaller entity, the Medical Board of California handles investigations such as this.
Osteopathic doctors are very similar to medical doctors but incorporate into their care the manipulation of joints and bones to diagnose and treat illness.
The Osteopathic Medical Board of California did not return calls seeking comment. Their list of recent enforcement actions includes a physician whose license was suspended, pending a hearing, for unlawful self-prescribing and self-use of controlled substances.
Kaiser would not specify the ramifications, if any, for Enoch, who works at its Coffee Road medical office building.
“Providing safe and quality health care is our first priority,” according to a Kaiser statement. “We are looking into this matter carefully and are cooperating fully with the investigation. If the allegations prove to be true, we will take all appropriate actions.”
