Troy OBGYN charged with funneling prescription narcotics to drug dealers

ROCHESTER HILLS, MIch. (WJBK) -
A Troy doctor was charged with bilking money from Medicare and insurance companies by funneling prescription narcotics to drug dealers on the street.

Tucked away in the rear of an office building in Rochester Hills, the non-descript doctor’s office of Dr. Michael Weiss.  An accomplished, well-known OBGYN who according to federal investigators is also funding street drug dealers.

"Dr. Weiss does have a practice, but it's not very lucrative practice and I don't know what motivated him to turn to this, but it is very lucrative," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

The doors at the doctor's office are locked, but according to investigators he didn't use the office to commit his illegal acts, he is accused of meeting the alleged street dealers at their house, and getting cash in exchange for the pills.

"But he would also submit bills to Medicare and Blue Cross for the pills which were not medically necessary - so they were fraudulent," McQuade said.
"But he would also bill Medicare for seeing the patients, for office visits. For tests that were never conducted."

According to a federal indictment, Weiss said he was meeting patients and giving out prescriptions for addictive pain killers like oxycodone.

"They weren't really patients they were people who wanted pain pills," McQuade said. "He would provide them with the pills themselves or give them a prescription that they could then sell on the street market."

This is said to have happened over the course of a year and a half - and the victims in all this are the taxpayers who fund Medicare.

"The total amount of the fraud alleged is $350, 000," McQuade said. "We would be seeking that as restitution for those victims."

Weiss, along with three patient recruiters or alleged street dealers, were indicted by the grand jury. If found guilty, the doctor could spend 20 years in federal prison.