Last week, President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of a former Huntsville pill mill doctor, among nearly 1,500 individuals.
In February 2017, Shelinder Aggarwal was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally prescribing controlled substances and conducting healthcare fraud. The charges involved $9.5 million in unnecessary and unused urine tests. Aggarwal was ordered to report to prison in April 2017.
On Thursday, December 12, Biden made a historic move by granting Aggarwal clemency. This act was reported to be the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, according to the Associated Press. Clemency refers to the president’s power to pardon individuals and relieve them of guilt and punishment, or to commute their sentences by reducing the punishment without eliminating the underlying offense.
Dr. Aggarwal, a pain management specialist, ran Chronic Pain Care Services in Huntsville. However, his medical practice was deemed a “pill mill,” as stated in the charges and plea agreement. Remarkably, he held the title of being the highest Medicare prescriber of opioid painkillers in the entire country, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to official records, Aggarwal’s clinic received an average of 80 to 145 patients per day in 2012. During this time, he personally attended to the majority of patients and handled all prescription writing. Initial consultations with patients usually lasted for five minutes or less, while follow-up appointments were typically limited to two minutes or less.
According to the documents, it was found that Aggarwal had neglected to acquire the necessary medical records for his patients. Furthermore, he restricted his treatment to only controlled substances and frequently asked patients what medications they specifically desired, subsequently fulfilling their requests. Shockingly, he even prescribed controlled substances to patients whom he knew were involved in illicit drug use. Aggarwal also failed to implement adequate measures to prevent the diversion or abuse of controlled substances, ultimately leading to the charge of illegal prescribing that he was confronted with and subsequently admitted guilt to.
According to the plea agreement, a recorded video captured an interaction between Aggarwal and a patient. In the video, Aggarwal acknowledges that the DEA considered him the “biggest pill-pusher in North Alabama” and expresses concern over the high number of his patients who have passed away. He describes them as “dropping like flies.”
He was charged with healthcare fraud because he made patients undergo urine drug tests that were unnecessary and not used in their treatment.
The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for Alabama, which keeps a record of the distribution of controlled substances, and Medicare data are both referenced in other documents related to the case.
The Alabama pharmacies filled approximately 110,013 of Aggarwal’s prescriptions for controlled substances in 2012, as reported by the PDMP. This would average out to about 423 prescriptions per day if he worked five days a week. As a result, it is estimated that around 12.3 million pills were dispensed during this time period, according to the DOJ’s release regarding his sentencing.
As part of his guilty plea, he was also instructed to surrender $6.7 million and his former clinic on Turner Street Southwest in Huntsville. Additionally, the judge mandated Aggarwal to reimburse Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama with $6.7 million in restitution.
Aggarwal voluntarily gave up his Alabama medical license in 2013, as well as his Alabama and federal Drug Enforcement Administration certificates for prescribing controlled substances. This decision came after the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners launched an investigation into his practices.
Before the massive act of clemency on December 12th, The AP reported that Biden had granted 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. Among these was a comprehensive pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, who had been prosecuted for gun and tax crimes.
