Criminal Law: Healthcare Fraud-False Medicare/Medicaid Claims-Classification of “Device”

Defendants appealed their convictions for healthcare fraud and conspiracy to defraud the U.S., arising from their submission of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement claims for use of FDA-approved pain injections even though defendants were actually using non-FDA approved injections. On appeal, defendants argued that indictment and jury instructions required the government to prove that the non-approved injection was a “device” under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Defendants also raised other alleged errors.

Even though the jury instructions may have added an element not contained in the statutory offense, the government was not required to prove its case by that heightened standard. Instead, the sufficiency of the evidence was evaluated against the statutory elements of the offense.

Judgment is affirmed.

U.S. v. Naushad (MLW No. 79920/Case Nos. 22-2864 & 22-2865 – 10 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Benton, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Webber, J.