A Pasadena man who runs an Orange County medical clinic has agreed to plead guilty to five counts of health insurance fraud, authorities said.
Dr. Glen Justice, 65, filed the plea agreement Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannie Joseph said.
He stands accused of billing Medicare, as well as other private and publicly funded health insurance companies, for $400,000 to $1 million worth of injectable cancer drugs he never administered, Joseph said. He is also charged with overbilling for drugs he did actually give to patients.
As a doctor, the prosecutor said, Justice had a duty to both his patients and the health insurance companies he did business with.
“For both of those reasons, he was in a position of trust,” he said.
The alleged wrongdoing took place between 2004 and October of 2009 at the Pacific Coast Hematology/Oncology Medical Group in Fountain Valley, which Justice owns and operates, U.S. Department of Justice officials said in a written statement.
Justice was arrested in late 2009 and appeared to be continuing the scheme, officials said, even though staff members at his clinic had raised concerns about his billing practices and authorities had carried out a search warrant at his office in November of 2006.
Justice is due back in federal court for arraignment May 3, Joseph said. After that, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled.
Once convicted, she added, it will be up to the California Medical Board to determine if the conviction will affect Justice’s license to practice medicine.
He faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison, fines of up to $1.25 million and may be ordered to pay up to $1 million in restitution, according to court documents.
“No pun intended,” Joseph said, “we look forward to justice being served.”
