Another Psychologist Caught in Drug Fraud

Here we have an odd case of a medical doctor who is also a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. In any case, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. As reported in the Pocono Record

East Stroudsburg doctor Harold Pascal pushed prescription drugs using “criminal patterns” and disregarding the health needs of his patients, state narcotics investigators charge.

Authorities allege Pascal was providing prescriptions for whatever drugs “patients” said they wanted, and police described an assembly-line process in which patients even went so far as to write down what drugs they wanted to save time during office visits that took as little as 2½ minutes.

Affidavits from police also list testimony from a citizen who claims Pascal billed area school districts for counseling services that were never performed. Statements in the affidavit also suggest Medicare fraud, saying Pascal took cash from patients and then billed Medicare.

The affidavits, filed Tuesday at the Monroe County Courthouse, include 30 detailed pages listing 27 undercover purchases of prescriptions narcotics agents said they made through Pascal.

By filing details of Pascal’s alleged crimes at the Monroe County Courthouse, the Pennsylvania Attorney General office reinstated its claim to seize Pascal’s building and offices on 223 Brown Street.

Pascal’s attorney, James Swetz, said by phone Thursday, “I have not seen it yet, but when I return I shall read, investigate it and attack it.”

According to the affidavits, Troy G. Serfass, a narcotics agent for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, said the investigation began when a local student, who was sent to Pascal for help, found the doctor was dispensing prescription drugs regardless of need. “All she had to do was ask.”

The student also claimed Pascal would take cash from patients and bill Medicaid, according to the affidavit.

Two drug agents wearing recording devices subsequently posed as patients and reported that there was a line of patients outside Pascal’s offices. Each patient visit took from two to three minutes and each patient would leave with a prescription.

At one point a drug agent witnessed Pascal telling a patient to “bring a shopping bag” to hold all the drugs she was asking for.

Pascal is a psychologist and a medical doctor. He appears to have closed his practice, leaving some 400 patients without coverage.
Pascal holds a doctorate in psychology, a medical degree and license and a masters in divinity.

State law enforcement officials searched Pascal’s home and office on Nov. 7 and froze his bank accounts.

This week the state attorney general’s office tried again to take the Brown Street property, filing long affidivits claiming illegal drug activity at the building.

The state alleges Pascal’s building is subject to the terms of Pennsylvania’s Controlled Substances Act, which exposes for seizure “all property which is used as a container” for manufacture, sale or distribution of illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, a state grand jury continues to investigate Pascal.

School scam claimed

According to the affidavits filed in support of the state’s claim that it can seize the property, the first young complainant told Agent Serfass that Pascal “receives payment for counseling services from many area school districts but does not perform the services.” The state’s affidavit further claims that Pascal would issue fake invoices to school districts for counseling never received.

The first time an undercover agent went into Pascal’s office was Aug. 3, 2005. The visits from undercover agents continued through the fall of 2006.

On later visits an undercover agent asked for a prescription for Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Pascal handed it over. The agent gave Pascal $60. Narcotic agent Robert Bruce entered Pascal’s office and left with Xanax pills after a brief talk.

At one point, the affidavit states, Pascal asked an agent, “Is the whole family addicted?” He wrote the prescriptions anyway.

On the same day Agent Serfass said he saw 70 patients enter and leave Pascal’s office from between 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., averaging 2½ minutes per patient.

On another occasion an undercover agent went to see Pascal. According to the affidavit, the agent just said she needed Xanax. Pascal gave her a prescription.