Once considered as an influential doctor, Shelinder Aggarwal has been sentenced in US$9.5 million health care fraud involving unnecessary and unused urine tests and illegally prescribing controlled substances.
A former Huntsville, Alabama, Aggarwal has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. He will be reported to prison on April 12.
Robert Posey, the US Attorney said in a news release that 48-year-old Shelinder Aggarwal was sentenced on February 7 after pleading guilty last year.
Known as a prolific Medicare prescriber of opioid, Aggarwal pleaded guilty in October last year and agreed to pay US$6.7 million in restitution to Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.
The Indian-American doctor also agreed to give up the clinic he had operated.
Alabama pharmacies filled about 110,000 of Aggarwal's prescriptions for controlled substances in 2012, resulting in about 12.3 million pills.