Pennsylvania Doc to Repay $700K for Overprescribing Drugs

A Pittsburgh-area physician has agreed to repay two insurance companies $700,000 for covering powerful narcotic painkillers that he pleaded guilty to overprescribing to dozens of patients.

McMurray physician Oliver Herndon pleaded guilty in May and is will be sentenced Sept. 24. As part of his plea agreement, he’s expected to serve 11 years and three months in federal prison, though a federal judge has yet to formally approve the deal.

Federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided his palliative care practice in upscale Peters Township earlier this year after 87 of 128 area pharmacies told investigators they were refusing to fill prescriptions from Herndon because they questioned whether the large-scale painkiller prescriptions were medically necessary.

According to court papers, Herndon will repay UPMC for You $490,000 and another $210,000 to Gateway Health Plan.