Statewide Crisis Threatens Addiction Clinics

The last of the 30 addiction treatment centers across Massachusetts that make up Preventative Medicine Associates was shut down last week after Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore was arrested for allegedly running a Medicaid fraud "kickback" scheme. Kishore owns and manages the 30 medical branches that altogether make up a larger corporation known as Preventative Medicine Associates. According to State Attorney General Martha Coakley, Kishore carried out an intricate scheme to funnel a drug screen business in his laboratories and send the bills directly to MassHealth to cover the service fees. Drug screens billed to the MassHealth generally cost about $100 to $200. Kishore's scheme involved approximately $500,000 in taxpayer funded testing which really puts the potential damage into perspective.

The aftermath of Kishore's arrest has created a state of panic for both patients and employees. When he stopped receiving reimbursements from the state, Kishore started shutting down clinics without any notice and stopped paying employees. After his arrest last week nearly all of his clinics were shut down in addition to their supply of the anti-addiction drug Vivitrol. Since Kishore was the predominant prescriber and supplier of the drug, thousands of heroin and OxyContin addicts are now left without a prescription.

Many of his former employees and patients are making sense of a series of strange events that have occurred over the last few months. Not only were employees' checks bouncing back from their banks, but collection agencies were calling looking for payments, phone services had been shut off and the staff even had to borrow needed supplies from other doctor's offices.


Massachusetts Department of Public Health is expressing concern about the possibility of patient relapses stemming from the lack of Vivitrol. The state is currently in the process of searching for ways to provide the patients of Kishore's clinics with Vivitrol.

**Here's an interesting article on Kishore's methods of primary care and addiction treatment published before his arrest in September.