Oct 10, 2014 3 min read

Washington County pharmacist Andrew F. Kuzy was arrested Friday for allegedly submitting fraudulent prescription claims to insurance companies, stealing more than $346,000 and providing powerful prescription drugs, including oxycodone, to patients without proper prescriptions.

The state attorney general’s office alleged Kuzy, 61, of 531 Warrick Drive, South Strabane Township, routinely filled prescriptions and submitted claims for them, even though the prescriptions were discontinued by a patient’s physician or refills were not prescribed, authorized or dispensed. Kuzy is also accused of filling phony prescriptions for tens of thousands of powerful narcotic pills, mostly oxycodone.

Kuzy, who owned Kuzy’s Pharmacy in Bentleyville, is charged with drug diversion, Medicaid fraud, insurance fraud and theft by deception.

In March 2012, Kuzy’s pharmacy closed after members of the attorney general’s office, the FBI and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration served a search warrant on the pharmacy. Details of the search and its purpose were not available at the time.

Investigators determined Kuzy used 132 customers to bill insurance companies for medications they never received, fraudulently netting $346,326.

According to the criminal complaint, Kuzy’s alleged fraud included at least 36 customers of Medicaid and at least 96 customers of private insurance and prescription plans. Records showed six prescriptions were billed by Kuzy for a customer after her death.

The complaint states multiple people told investigators they filled fraudulent prescriptions at Kuzy’s Drug Store to illegally obtain prescription opioids, and it alleges Kuzy willingly provided them with more than 33,600 oxycodone and other pills.

“Insurance fraud causes rates to rise for everyone, including seniors and the poor. The theft of precious Medicaid dollars means that resources may not be available to those most in need of care,” said Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane. “In Pennsylvania, there is a direct link between prescription drug use and heroin use. The diversion of prescription opioids directly threatens our families and communities by furthering the epidemic of abuse, as many addicts turn to heroin over time.”

According to the attorney general’s office, Kuzy mastered a fraud scheme called “calendar billing,” where prescriptions were billed as soon as the insurance companies would accept the billing even though the medications were not dispensed.

Charges were filed after a joint investigation conducted by the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Medicaid Fraud Control Section and Insurance Fraud Section, with assistance from the state police, Drug Enforcement Agency, FBI, U.S. Department of Labor and the South Strabane Township police department.

Kuzy is being held on $500,000 unsecured bond.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively set for Thursday.