By Bruce Tomaso – The Texas LawbookWhat the government calls a massive healthcare scam involved nothing more than legitimate business transactions between doctors and the operators of three North Texas pharmacies, defense lawyers told a federal court jury on Thursday.
Christopher Rydberg of Tarrant County, Noryian’s stepson and an executive with the pharmacies who are also involved in related family business ventures. Rydberg is represented by Barry Sorrels and Stephanie Luce Ola of Sorrels Ola in Dallas. In all, a federal health insurance program administered by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, a part of the U.S. Department of Labor, was billed about $196 million for fraudulently dispensed prescriptions between 2014 and 2017, far more than the $158 million alleged in the 2019 indictment, prosecutor Ethan Womble told the jury.
Sorrels said his client, Rydberg – described by Womble as “the money guy” – was merely the innocent signer of checks and other business documents for his stepfather. Everything he did in connection with Noryian’s business interests was done under one of two circumstances: “He either asked for approval from James, or James told him to do it,” Sorrels said.
Ray said the evidence will show that many of those prescriptions were not signed by Taba. “They were modified, they were altered, and they were forged,” the lawyer said.The prescriptions at issue were for so-called “compound drugs,” boutique medications specially created for the unique needs of an individual patient. Because they’re a specialty product made in small batches, and because compounding requires special training and equipment, the medications can be astronomically expensive.