Chief Operating Officer of Area Pain Clinics indicted

CHARLOTTESVLLE, Va. (WDBJ) - The former chief operating officer of Area Pain Clinics has been indicted by a federal grand jury for her alleged involvement in health care fraud and illegal drug distribution.

Jennifer Adams, 50, is charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud, conspiring to distribute medically illegitimate Schedule II controlled substances, and conspiring to use the DEA registration number of another, according to court documents.

Court documents say Adams was responsible for several pain clinics in Lynchburg, Madison Heights, Woodlawn, Blacksburg, and Christiansburg.

The indictment alleges that Adams allowed medical providers without DEA registration numbers to use the registration numbers of others. She was aware that employees prescribed Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances to patients who exhibited warning signs of drug abuse, court documents say.

Court documents state Adams allowed employees who lacked medical training, experience, and licensing to provide medical treatment.

Early September, Adams was arrested in South Carolina.

“Health care professionals who exploit opioid addiction for their own financial gain do so at the risk of endangering their patients as well as undermining federal health care programs and public health efforts to address the opioid epidemic,” said Maureen Dixon, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. “We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that bad actors are held accountable for such egregious disregard for patient safety and well-being,” emphasized Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washington Division.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, the Virginia State Police, and the Virginia Attorney General’s Office - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are investigating the case.

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