New Jersey Doctor, Teacher, and Firefighter all Participated in $50 Million Prescription Drug Scam
A doctor, a teacher, and a firefighter walk into a bar. The teacher says, “Want to join me in a prescription drug scheme?” It sounds like a bad joke.
Most people think positively about the public servants that risk their lives on a daily basis to protect us, and rightfully so. But sometimes corruption can run rampant, and that includes through the ranks of our trusted public servants.
A healthcare conspiracy in New Jersey recruited both government and school employees and included multiple firefighters, a police officer, and a teacher, among others, totaling 40 people. The prescription drugs then traveled to Louisiana, and a compounding pharmacy made money on prescriptions already paid for in New Jersey. It was all foiled by the FBI.
The top recruiter in the scam was Shawn Sypherd, a teacher in Middle Township, NJ. One of his accomplices is Thomas Sher, a firefighter in Atlantic City who also became a recruiter in the scam. And then there is Dr. John Gaffney, who signed 200 prescriptions without even seeing the patients, and the prescriptions were faxed to the Pharmacy to be billed at the expense of the Pharmacy Benefits Administrator. (Source: NJ.com)
