Crime & Safety

4 Suspected San Fernando Valley 'Prescription Mills' Raided

The manager of two of the clinics was taken into custody at her home in Encino.

City News Service

A task force comprising local, state and federal agencies has shut down four San Fernando Valley clinics that allegedly engaged in Medicare fraud and served as “prescription mills” from which bogus prescriptions for the powerful pain killer OxyContin were being issued, authorities said Friday.  

The clinics raided on Thursday, when three people were arrested, included two in the 7000 block of Reseda Boulevard in Reseda, one in the 8600 block of Reseda Boulevard in Northridge and one in the 8100 block of Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys, said sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker.   

Find out what's happening in Encino-Tarzanawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Agents also reportedly searched the home of the manager of two of the clinics in the 5400 block of Genesta Avenue in Encino.

The clinic manager, a woman identified as Anush Davtyan, was taken into custody at her home in Encino, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Davtyan was named in a federal arrest warrant, Eimiller told City News Service, declining to cite the charges pending against the woman.   

Find out what's happening in Encino-Tarzanawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Parker said the evidence being reviewed in the aftermath of Thursday's raids could produce charges against doctors, clinic managers, office employees, drug dealers and others. The charges could include state and federal felonies, among them drug trafficking, health care fraud and tax fraud.

The raids—which resulted in the seizure of computers, financial documents and patient records—were carried out by the Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force, a joint effort of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the L.A. County Department of Health, the California Department of Health Care Services and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.   

Parker told City News Service the investigation culminating in Thursday's raids also involved the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Monterey Park Police Department, the California Department of Justice, the California Medical Board and the California Labor Commission.

The investigation, he said, was prompted by “recent deaths due to prescription overdoses and complaints from devastated loved ones.”

Parker said that suspects have been caught throughout the western United States trying to fill prescriptions for OxyContin that they obtained from the now-shuttered clinics.

“Others were caught trafficking large quantities of OxyContin using prescriptions obtained at the four clinics,” he said.   

Moreover, numerous legitimate patients said their identities had been stolen through medical care identity theft involving the clinics, Parker said.   

They reported that prescriptions had been filled in their names, then billed to Medicare, he said, adding that, "the billings were credited against the legitimate Medicare patients' medical histories, resulting in records indicating that they were using part of their limited allowance."

The four clinics raided Thursday are linked to incidents or investigations in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington state and nearly every large county in California, Parker said.   

Besides the bogus prescriptions, the investigation is also focusing on allegations of false claims resulting in Medicare fraud, and illegal kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries who sold the use of their Medicare card to prescription drug dealers, Parker said. He said Medicare was also billed for medical services that were never performed.    

Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Opferman, a task force member, said most of the criminal activity attributed to the four clinics “involved the prescription drug OxyContin."   

“The investigation included undercover investigators who purchased prescription drugs just by presenting false identification at the clinics. No medical examinations were ever performed,” Opferman said.   

Two arrests were made at the clinic in Northridge, Parker said. One of the suspects had 23 vials containing more that 2,000 pills with a street value of about $40,000, he said, and the second had false identification that he used to fill fraudulent prescriptions. Their names were not released.   


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Encino-Tarzana