Doctor Charged with Conspiring to Distribute Controlled Substances

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), West Palm Beach Bureau; William J. Maddalena, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations; John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); and the Greater Palm Beach Health Care Fraud Task Force, announced the arrest of Dr. Selwyn Carrington, a 57-year-old physician living in Miami, Florida.

The criminal complaint charges the defendant, Dr. Carrington with conspiring to dispense and distribute and to cause the dispensing and distribution of controlled substances through medical clinics in Hallandale and West Palm Beach, Florida, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1). If convicted, Dr. Carrington faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years. Selwyn Carrington is a licensed physician in the State of Florida. Carrington’s primary practice is at

1613 North Hiatus Road, Pembroke Pines, Florida

.

According to the complaint and corresponding affidavit, Dr. Carrington served as the medical director of Primary Care Primary Care Practitioners, a family medical practice owned by two advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs). Primary care practitioners operates clinics in Hallandale and West Palm Beach, Florida.

According to court documents, the investigation revealed that Dr. Carrington did not treat or evaluate any clients at the clinics and he was not at the clinics during their normal business hours. The investigation revealed that, in exchange for $5,000 per month, Dr. Carrington went to the clinics approximately once per week to sign progress notes for patients that had been previously seen by the ARNPs and to pre-sign blank prescriptions so that the ARNPs and other employees, who have no medical licenses, could illegally prescribe controlled substances to their clients. According to the charging documents, Percocet, Oxycodone, and Xanax were all illegally prescribed in this manner.

An analysis of the payments made by Florida Medicaid for the time period from March 2005 through January 2011 indicated that over 300,000 pills containing controlled substances were dispensed to Primary Care Practitioner’s clients due to the prescriptions pre-signed by Dr. Carrington. The Florida Medicaid Program paid for these pills. The 300,000 pill total includes 150,000 pills containing Schedule II control substances. Schedule II controlled substances, such as Oxycodone, have a high level of abuse or misuse and so their use is severely restricted in the United States.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the MFCU, the FBI, HHS OIG, DCIS, and the Greater Palm Beach Health Care Fraud Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Evans.