BY TRESA BALDAS
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Gwendolyn Washington, a doctor and key figure in a public corruption scandal involving the Detroit Public Schools, was ordered jailed today on new criminal charges involving health care fraud and prescription drug dealing.
Washington, 67, was ordered temporarily detained following a hearing in U.S. District Court, where she was charged with, among other things, submitting claims to Medicare for many patients who are dead, and for procedures that were unwarranted. She also was charged with writing numerous prescriptions for highly addictive pain medications, including Oxycontin, and then peddling them on the black market for profit.
According to the criminal complaint filed today, Washington would write the prescriptions, which a coconspirator filled at pharmacies throughout metro Detroit and then sold. The pair, for example, sold 90 tablets of Oxycontin for roughly $1,600, and a prescription of 60 tablets of Opana ER for about $600, according to the complaint.
Washington’s lawyer, Anthony Chambers, declined comment on the prescription drug distribution charges, but said that his client has been cooperating with authorities on the health care fraud investigation.
Chambers, though, was visibly upset about his client being ordered detained, saying “I’m very disappointed in the process today.”
Washington was ordered detained after pretrial services presented information to the court about a bond violation, calling for her detention.
