The court for the district of Vermont, as presided over by Judge William K. Sessions III, charged Steven Mark, 46, of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania on one account of the attempted obstruction of federal investigations into the companies Practice Fusion and, Inc. and Purdue Pharma L.P., and the relationship that exists between them. The charge against Mr. Mark comes under the 18 U.S.C. Section 1519.
According to our top-rated federal criminal defense attorneys, a federal obstruction of justice charge may arise if an individual changes or destroys a document or “tangible object” relevant to a federal investigation with an intention to obstruct or mask the investigation.
Mr. Mask, an officer of the electronic medical record (E.M.R.) company, specifically the Director of National Accounts, affirmed allegations leveled against him, stating that he erased and tampered with several computer files relevant to the federal investigation.
In a deferred prosecution agreement between the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont and Practice Fusion, on the 27th of January 2020, the latter admitted to a violation of both the conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, and the 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(1), a criminal kickback and criminal acts involving Federal healthcare programs.
Ten months later, Purdue Pharma, the seller of extended-release opioid products, admitted to violating the Anti-kickback statute in its illegal operations or engagements with its E.M.R. vendor counterpart, Practice Fusion, and the violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 21 U.S.C. ch. 9 § 301 et seq, the federal statute giving the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.).
Purdue Pharma allegedly conspired with Practice Fusion to create and design clinical decision support (C.D.S.) alerts that would influence healthcare providers to prescribe more extended-release opioids to patients and users. Investigations conducted into the operations of Purdue Pharma revealed in their internal marketing documents that the vital objective for the C.D.S. program was “Increase in E.R.O. prescribing.” The surrounding kickbacks were alleged to have been financed by Purdue Pharma to the tune of an estimate of $1 million.
Mr. Mack’s charge of obstruction of criminal investigations, while the first to be criminally charged from an E.M.R. vendor, comes as the fourth to individuals indicted regarding criminal acts linked to E.M.R. investigations. Mr. Mark, following advice from his lawyers, Stephen Huggard, Esq. of Boston and Robert Katims, Esq. of Burlington, agreed to aid the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the agencies responsible for carrying out these investigations.
