Alabama Legislator Arrested In Pill Mill Case

MONTGOMERY, AL - Alabama lawmaker Ed Henry was charged Thursday morning for his involvement in an alleged medical kickback scheme. The Republican House member has been charged with conspiring to pay kickbacks, paying unlawful kickbacks, conspiring to commit health care fraud, health care fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering with the Atlanta Highway Family Practice clinic.

A report by the Montgomery Advertiser said Henry owned a chronic care management company called MyPractice24 from 2015 to 2017, when he also served at its CEO. Investigators have called the Atlanta Highway Family Practice medical clinic a "pill mill," alleging employees from clerical workers to physicians conspired to prescribe unnecessary controlled substances and over bill health insurance companies for services and medications.

According to a department of Justice release, Henry made an agreement with Family Practice's owner Dr. Gilberto Sanchez in 2016 wherein Henry would provide kickbacks to Sanchez and staff if Family Practice doctors referred Medicare patients to his company.

"Among the kickbacks provided were direct payments to a member of the staff, free chronic care management services, free medical billing services, and free clinical services unrelated to the provision of chronic care management services," a Department of Justice release states. "Additionally, Henry assisted Dr. Sanchez in paying kickbacks to patients who enrolled in the chronic care management program. Dr. Sanchez paid these kickbacks by systematically waiving copays — copays which Medicare required Dr. Sanchez to collect."

Henry, who represents House District 5, lives in Hartselle. He is no stranger to controversy, as he made national news during Alabama's special Senate election, defending GOP candidate Roy Moore amid sexual misconduct allegations against Moore.

Henry said he did not believe the women accusing Moore. "If anybody knows of a crime that there's a predator out there and you sit back and wait for 40 years to say anything about it and let those kinds of things happen, then you should be as guilty as they are for allowing that to occur," Henry said in a statement in October last year. "With things like the Bill Cosby incident where they paid people to be quiet, those people who were paid, to me, are as guilty as he was and should be prosecuted."

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