Massachusetts Doctor Sentenced for Health Care Fraud and Opioid Overprescription

In a significant case of health care fraud, Dr. Olarewaju James Oladipo, a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Canton, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 16 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release. Convicted in December 2023 on 10 counts of health care fraud, Oladipo’s sentencing was delivered by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs in federal court in Boston.

From January 2016 to December 2019, Oladipo executed a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by falsely billing for patient visits. He used billing codes for more complex and expensive services that were not provided, falsifying medical records to indicate examinations and services that never occurred. During this period, Oladipo frequently billed for over 60 patients a day, sometimes exceeding 100 patients daily, implying patient visits that lasted mere minutes. Yet, he billed for visit durations ranging from 15 to 45 minutes.

Additionally, Oladipo was among the top prescribers of opioids in Massachusetts. He prescribed powerful, highly addictive opioids such as oxycodone at alarming rates, even to patients with opioid addiction. This ensured a high flow of patients to his practice, contributing to the fraud.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan D. Panich and William B. Brady. The investigation was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, with significant contributions from the FBI Boston Division, Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, and the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Additional support came from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.