PHARMACIST STEVE

When doctors are attacked in the United States, one of the techniques used by the government is to send in an agent as a patient. They complain of pain, get treated appropriately for their complaint, and then later testify that the treatment was medically unnecessary because they really don’t have pain and the doctor broke the law.  Here is the testimony of one such CS (confidential source) in the trial of Lesly Pompy, MD.

The government witness is James Stewart Howell.  The direct examination is by US Attorney Andrew J. Lievense.  Questions (Q) are by Mr. Lievense and answers (A) are by Mr. Howell

Q. And what role did you have in this case?
A. I was an employee of Blue Cross doing undercover visits.

Q. And what type of patient were you posing as when you went to see Dr. Pompy?
A. I was posing as an undercover patient seeking drugs or pills or medication.
Q. And did Dr. Pompy prescribe those pills to you?
A. Yes.
Q. what did he prescribe to you?
A. Norco.

Q. Now, in your role with Blue Cross Blue Shield, how do you identify people to investigate?
A. We have a variety of ways that we get our Case. One of them is we have an antifraud hotline. We get cases from law enforcement. We get cases from other areas within the company. We get cases from former employees of providers, doctors’ offices, things like that.

Q. And does Blue Cross Blue Shield have people who are engaged in — in data mining?  What does that mean?
A. Data mining is when you search for particular things within data that you have possession of. We receive cases that are created by data mining.
Q. And so you would see the results of their work?
A. Yes.
Q. And based on your review of the results of that work, do the people that are referred to you, are they just randomly drawn out of the databases?
A. No.

Q. Based on the results of work that you received from them, are the people referred to you kind of outliers in some way?
A. Yes.
Q. In what ways might a health care provider be an outlier?
A. They could be an outlier based on the fact they compare them against peers of similar practice size, et cetera. If somebody’s outside of the peer comparisons, they would be considered an outlier.

Q. What types of methods do you employ as a health care fraud investigator for Blue Cross?
A. We use undercover techniques, record review techniques, audits, and there’s other ways.

Q. Why does Blue Cross or why do you as an investigator for Blue Cross use undercover work as one of your techniques?
A. The reason I like to use them is that it gives you an inside view of actually what’s going on at a particular place such as the time spent or like what transpires, the number of employees, exactly how the practice works.

Q. Now, do you use your normal driver’s license that’s issued by the Secretary of State that you’ve had since you turned 16 years old? A. No.
Q. Are you able to get an undercover driver’s license?
A. Yes.
Q. Now would you need an insurance card that matched your undercover driver’s license?
A. Yes.
Q. And why do you use an undercover driver’s license and undercover Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance card instead of your personal ones?
A. You don’t want to give your own personal information out.

Q. How did you come to learn about Dr. Lesly Pompy?
A. He came to my attention from another investigator within the area where I work.
Q. And do you know how your colleague learned of Dr. Pompy?
A. Yes.
Q. And how did essentially you and Blue Cross learn about Dr. Pompy? Did Dr. Pompy getting on your radar came from law enforcement?
A. Yes.

Q. All right. And I’d like to direct your attention to January 5th, 2016. Do you recall what happened that day with respect to your investigation of Dr. Pompy?
A. So on January 5th, 2016 I did go to Dr. Pompy’s office to inquire about becoming a new patient there in an undercover capacity.
Q. And can you describe what you did when you entered the office?
A. I spoke with the person on the desk.
Q. And did the person there ask you whether you had any insurance?
A. Yes.
Q. And did they provide you a new patient questionnaire and paperwork?
A. Yes.
Q. In addition, did the person there at the reception area say anything else that you needed to fill out or have with you besides the new patient questionnaire?
A. Yes. Told me I needed a referral from a doctor for pain management. The explanation I remember was to fill out the new patient paperwork and return it when it was completed fully and bring that referral from another doctor back when I had it all filled out.

Q. Do you recall when the next time you went to Dr. Pompy’s office was?
A. That was on January 26th of 2016.
Q. I’d like to show you a clip from Government’s Exhibit 91. We’re going to be showing you a series of videos from the undercover investigation. Were you the person who made those video recordings?
A. Yes.
Q. And where is the camera?
A. It’s in my hand recording, handheld or it can be set down, but it’s portable. It’s hidden in the top of a coffee mug.
Q. Is this a special coffee mug that has this equipped?
A. It’s a camera mug, yes.

He discussed the protocol used to accept a new patient.

Q. And did you also turn in the new patient questionnaire?
A. Yes.
Q. And what does it say underneath “New Patient Information Packet”?
A. “Please be advised that during your initial evaluation for pain management narcotic medications will not be prescribed. Testing and evaluations will be performed to determine the best treatment for your condition.”

Q. When you filled it out, what was your goal, what was your purpose?
A. My goal was to get in as a new patient.
Q. Was your goal to present as a new patient who was completely healthy?
A. No. My goal is to get in as a pain patient and be seen as a normal patient that was being seen there.
Q. So did you know you had to present as someone who had some level of discomfort?
A. Yes.

Q. What address did you put down as your address?
A. It’s Dearborn, Michigan.
Q. And if you know, approximately how far away is that from Monroe, Michigan?
A. I’m going to estimate 25 miles.

THE Judge: Why did you say Dearborn instead of Monroe?
THE WITNESS: Just to give an address that wasn’t too close to Monroe or was in Monroe because I was trying to appear to be a drug-seeking patient not from the area.

And under “Referring Physician,” did you write in Dr. Robertson, which is consistent with the referral?
A. Yes.
Q. And what did you write for Dr. Robertson’s city in which he lived in?
A. I listed Eastpointe because that’s where his practice is.
Q. And is that a farther distance from Monroe?
A. Yes.

Q. What’s the title of this page of the document?
A. Title of the page is “Review of Symptoms-Circle All that Apply to your current condition.”
Q. And the fourth one down is — you circled “Musculoskeletal,” is that correct?
A. It is, yes.
Q. And next to — of that list of musculoskeletal symptoms, which one did you circle?
A. I circled “stiffness.”
Q. Why did you circle “stiffness”?
A. I was indicating stiffness, not really pain.
Q. All right. And it looks like underneath “Musculoskeletal” there’s “Neurological.” What did you circle next to “Neurological”?
A. Back, back problems.
Q. And below that under “Psychiatric,” did you circle one of the symptoms under “Psychiatric”?
A. “Personality changes.” I don’t remember the purpose of circling that.
Q. And if you go further down, right at the bottom, did you circle “Addiction”?
A. Yes. I wrote “Booze weekends.” I was giving indications of not only drug seeking but alcohol abuse or use.
Q. the next page under “Review of Symptoms.” Did you write anything on this page?
A. I did. Under “List Past-Current Medical Diagnosis” I wrote “Back and Nerves.” I was indicating stiff back, so I was directing it towards back.

Q. All right. And what did you write on this page in terms of your wishes
A. I indicated “help with back” in two different spots.
Q. So on these two pages you did report some symptoms consistent with discomfort, is that right? A. Yes.
Q. And you also — and you also mentioned the alcohol abuse, is that right?
A. I did, yes.
Q. And under Question 4 it says, “Use the Following Scales to Indicate How Severe Your Pain is.” Did you circle anything?
A. No.
Q. What did you write?
A. I wrote “stiffness mostly.”
Q. And under number 5, “Which Statement Best Describes Your Pain?,” what did you check?
A. I checked “Always Present, Always Same Intensity,” and wrote “stiffness” next to it.
Q. And on page 16 what were you asked to circle?
A. On that form I was asked to “Indicate on the Diagram Where Your Pain Occurs by Shading the Painful Areas,” and which I circled low back.
Q. And under Question 8 is the question “What Makes Your Pain Feel Worse?” And what did you check?
A. I checked “Other: driving.”
Q. And driving, did you report that you had a particular occupation in your undercover capacity?
A. Yes. I indicated that I was a driver.
Q. And under Question Number 9, when it says, “What makes your pain feel better?” what did you check there?
A. I checked “alcoholic drinks” and “medicines.”
Q. Now, the questionnaire asks you to “List All Pain Medication You’re Currently Taking.” What did you write?
A. I wrote “Norco 7.5, Soma 350 and Ativan .5.”
Q. And do you understand Norco to be a — an opioid, a narcotic?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know what Soma is?
A. Yes. It’s a muscle relaxer.
Q. And do you know what Ativan is?
A. It’s a benzodiazepine.
Q. And had anybody, any physician been prescribing those three medications for you? A. No, not those three together, no.
Q. And you are aware of something called MAPS, right?
A. I am.
Q. And so when you listed those, were you aware whether Dr. Pompy or anyone else could check to see whether that was accurate?
A. Yes.

Lievense: I’d like to go back to page 26
Q. What did paragraph 6 of this document advise you?
A. Paragraph 6 says that “I agree to disclose all pain medications that I receive. I agree to receive my pain medications from one doctor only. I agree not to misrepresent my pain medication intake or my physical status to any of my health care providers.”
Q. And what is the first sentence of paragraph 10.
A. It says, “I will not share, sell or trade my medication for money, goods or services.”
Q. And the next one says what?
A. It says, “I agree not to doctor shop, street shop, conceal or divert prescribed medications for additional drugs.”
Q. And what about the next sentence?
A. “Any illegal diversion or questionable use of opioids will result in weaning and discontinuance of narcotics with the potential for clinic discharge.”
Q. As part of this agreement, did you also sign saying you agreed to take your medications as directed by Dr. Pompy?
A. Yes.
Q. Given that these paragraphs were part of the narcotics contract that you were provided, were these things that you were looking to see whether Dr. Pompy enforced them?
A. Yes.
Q. And if you didn’t comply with these requirements, what did you expect him to do?
A. I expected to be either questioned, called out or discharged.
Q. After turning in the questionnaire, did you then leave the office? And as you were leaving, did you talk to other people who were in the hallway?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you learn anything during those conversations that impacted your investigation?

MR. CHAPMAN: Your Honor, I’m going to object to the relevance of these statements. They’re from patients out in the hallway. There’s no indication Dr. Pompy knew these things were said.
THE JUDGE: Right, but I think he can testify as to how they affected his next steps in the investigation,
THE WITNESS: What I learned in the hallway from talking to some people was that it would take multiple visits to get medications and also that you may be required to submit to some testing.

So a 26+ page patient questionnaire is amazing! And all of the procedures are appropriate. So how does the government get away with sending fake patients in like this, who complain of pain, lying about their history but saying enough to get the appropriate medication, and then use these fakers to get a doctor convicted?  It’s purely because of the prejudice in the juror’s minds against opioids that the government has planted in our minds since 1999.

Does anyone know what happened to the Benedict Arnold physician—J Alan Robertson, MD—that helped the government by writing a referral to Dr. Pompy? Googling him states that his office is permanently closed. But other offices say he is practicing addiction medicine and working as a chiropractor.  Let me know what he is doing. Patients need to boycott him.

The only way to end this is to end government immunity and learn the REAL cause of addiction–and it isn’t the drugs!. Did you know that the government can lie to you and nothing happens?  But if you lie, you commit a crime. Lying to achieve a conviction in court should be a punishable offense. Prosecutorial misconduct is rampant now, simply because they can. There is no morality or virtue anymore in the legal profession.  “Do whatever it takes to get a conviction” is the rule. People don’t understand this until it happens to them. Do something before it happens to you. Join the communication campaign and let’s get some laws changed.