Florida Pharmacist Convicted of $5 Million Compounding Fraud

In the latest salvo in the federal crackdown on fraud among Florida compounders, a federal jury convicted pharmacist Stephen Chalker of participating in a $5 million scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.

The jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida found the defendant guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and two counts of health care fraud.

The federal prosecutors argued that between September 2014 and August 2016, Chalker participated in an illegal arrangement to defraud insurers by submitting falsified claims for medically unnecessary or never-provided prescriptions for compounded drugs.