Former Kansas Pharmacist’s Health-Care Fraud Convictions Upheld

A former Kansas pharmacist found guilty of submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions lost his appeal to undo a pair of health-care fraud convictions after the court said bad jury instructions weren’t prejudicial.

The error in the instructions pertained to the state of mind necessary to prove criminal distribution of narcotics, not health-care fraud, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said. There’s no “reasonable probability” the jury would have reached a different verdict on the health-care fraud charges if properly instructed on the scienter needed for distribution.

Health-care fraud requires a false statement that “was ...