Owners of Decatur pain clinic convicted of fraud, drug charges

Mar. 2—The owners of a Decatur pain clinic that closed in 2017 were convicted by a federal jury of multiple charges Tuesday including conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and a $50 million health care fraud scheme.

Mark Murphy, 65, and his wife Jennifer Murphy, 65, both of Lewisburg, Tennessee, owned and operated North Alabama Pain Services, which had Alabama clinics in Decatur and Madison. They were indicted in September 2020.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, evidence at trial showed that in the five years before the clinics closed, the defendants caused over $50 million in fraudulent or unnecessary medical services to be charged to Medicare, TRICARE, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and others. The clinics also provided pre-signed prescriptions to thousands of patients a month, including prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, and solicited and received unlawful kickbacks for referring fraudulent or unnecessary services to patients.

Jennifer Murphy, who served as office manager, also was convicted of tax-related charges for underreporting clinic income.

The maximum penalty for each defendant is 35 years for the drug, fraud and kickback charges, plus Jennifer Murphy faces up to an additional three years on the tax charge. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30.

— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.