On February 6, 2025, the government announced that Louisiana physician, Adrian Dexter Talbot M.D., 59, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for conspiring to illegally distribute 1.8+ million doses of Schedule II controlled substances (including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine), and for defrauding health care benefit programs of over $5.4 million.

Talbot owned and operated Medex Clinical Consultants (Medex), a medical clinic that accepted cash payments for Schedule II controlled substance prescriptions. Talbot turned a blind eye to his largely at-risk clientele including drug-seeking individuals or those abusing substances and decided to cash in on this brisk business.

In 2015, Talbot worked full-time in Pineville, Louisiana. Despite not being physically present at the Slidell clinic, he pre-signed prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances that were distributed to individuals he did not actually see.

He hired another practitioner in 2016 who also pre-signed prescriptions to be distributed to individuals in exchange for cash deposited into a Medex bank account, under Talbot’s direction.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Talbot attempted to cover the scheme by falsifying patient records to make it seem like he was routinely examining each patient. Talbot knew that these people filled prescriptions using their insurance benefits and caused health care benefit programs (such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana) to be fraudulently billed for controlled substances that were prescribed without patient examinations or medical necessity.

On July 22, 2024, Talbot was convicted in the Eastern District of Louisiana by a jury of one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances, four counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Whistleblowers were not named in this case, however, the government counts on people like you to report healthcare fraud. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, a private party (a “relator”) can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the recovery.

Constantine Cannon whistleblower partner Alysia Solow commented: “We speak with myriad intakes reporting healthcare fraud and strongly encourage individuals with information of misconduct who are thinking about blowing the whistle to reach out.”

If you think you might have a case, or would like to learn what it means to be a whistleblower, please contact us. We will connect you with an experienced member of our whistleblower team.

Read A $5.4M Health Care Fraud Scheme: Louisiana Doctor Sentenced for Illegally Distributing Over 1.8M Opioid Doses at constantinecannon.com