A Virginia-based nurse practitioner has been charged in connection with a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces. Daphne Jenkins, 64, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. According to the charging documents, between December 2018 and April 2020, Jenkins worked with a telemedicine company to sign orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment. It is alleged that these orders signed by Jenkins were pre-populated based on telemarketing calls made to Medicare beneficiaries, that Jenkins never had any contact with the beneficiaries herself and had no medical relationship with the patients, and that she generally signed these orders without even reading them. It is alleged that once Jenkins signed these orders, the telemarketing company sold the orders to DME suppliers and laboratories, which then submitted claims to Medicare. As a result of Jenkins’ alleged participation in this conspiracy, over $7.8 million in claims were submitted to Medicare for DME that was medically unnecessary, based on false documentation, and tainted by kickbacks.
