President Joe Biden recently granted clemency to approximately 1,500 individuals, which includes a former doctor convicted of participating in Medicare fraud and administering weakened chemotherapy drugs to cancer patients.
Last Thursday, the White House made an announcement about the commutations. They described President Biden’s action as the “largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.” However, a report from The Washington Free Beacon has since revealed that some of the individuals who received clemency from the Biden-Harris administration had previously been involved in serious crimes. This raises concerns about the criteria used for granting clemency.
In 2012, Meera Sachdeva, a former doctor and owner of the Rose Cancer Center in Summit, Mississippi, received a 20-year prison sentence and three years of supervised release for her involvement in Medicare fraud. Along with her sentence, she was also required to pay a $250,000 fine and over $8.1 million in restitution.
According to The Center for Public Integrity, Sachdeva was involved in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud case. Prosecutors alleged that the clinic reused old needles, diluted chemotherapy drugs, and overbilled both public and private insurance for millions of dollars. The Washington Free Beacon also reported that a patient of Sachdeva’s clinic claimed to have contracted HIV from an old needle that was used.
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The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi has revealed in a press release that the former doctor has confessed to fraudulently billing for a greater quantity of chemotherapy drugs than she had actually acquired from drug suppliers between the years 2007 and 2011.
According to the press release, Sachdeva’s patients believed they were receiving the same amount of chemotherapy medication as what was being billed to their health care benefit programs. However, it was revealed that the doctor did not administer the fully prescribed dosage of many of the chemotherapy drugs to each patient.
“The defendants’ health care fraud was a betrayal of the public’s trust, driven by their insatiable greed,” stated U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis. “We are unwavering in our commitment to safeguard the integrity of our health care system and will vigorously uphold our federal health care laws.”
According to the White House, the individuals who were granted clemency by the president have showcased a commendable journey of rehabilitation and a resolute dedication towards enhancing the safety of their communities. The White House further emphasized that President Biden’s decision to grant clemency to approximately 1,500 Americans is a continuation of his previous accomplishments in the realm of criminal justice reform.
According to the White House, President Trump has granted more sentence commutations during his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same stage in their first terms.