John Johnson, MD, and his wife Paula Johnson, MD, of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, were sentenced for conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.
According to a Justice Department news release dated September 20, 2016, Dr. John Johnson and others agreed to fraudulently bill health insurance companies for pricey urine drug testing.
Dr. John Johnson and his business associate Rodney Yentzer carried out the fraud through many pain management practices in Pennsylvania, including Lighthouse Medical and Pain Medicine of York.
Lighthouse Medical sold its urine drug testing laboratory services to a critical access hospital near the Florida-Alabama border. The hospital obtained the license to charge and collect payment from patients and insurance programs in exchange for Lighthouse Medical’s $900 commission per test. In July 2016, the hospital paid Lighthouse Medical almost $1.4 million for more than 1,500 drug tests.
In June 2017, Dr. John Johnson was sentenced to 84 months in prison for tax violations, conspiracy to conduct mail fraud, and wire fraud in connection with a separate healthcare fraud operation. Prior to his imprisonment, Dr. John Johnson had Dr. Paula Johnson placed on the payroll of Pain Medicine of York. Dr. Paula Johnson hadn’t practiced medicine in years.
From 2017 to 2019, Pain Medicine of York billed Medicare for over $10 million in testing, with more than $4 million paid out. Drs. John and Paula Johnson, together with Mr. Yentzer, continued to provide funds to the Johnsons.
Both Drs. John and Paula Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy counts. Dr. John Johnson was sentenced to 97 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and forced to pay $2.3 million in compensation. Dr. Paula Johnson was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay $249,301 in restitution, penalties, and assessments.
Mr. Yentzer, who has no medical background, pleaded guilty to his role in similar offenses in March 2022 and is currently awaiting sentencing, according to the announcement.
