Napa doctor, patient face fraud charges

A Napa doctor and one of his patients face charges for allegedly working together to bilk Medicare out of more than a million dollars, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dr. Paul D. Woodward, 71, is suspected of writing “false and fraudulent” prescriptions for controlled substances, such as the opioid Fentanyl, for 54-year-old Karen Kramer, who was arrested Dec. 10, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco. The doctor falsely claimed the drugs were prescribed for legitimate medical reasons and submitted the claims to Medicare, prosecutors said. Medicare paid out more than $1.3 million between 2006 and mid-2010, they said.

Woodward, who appeared Tuesday in front of a federal magistrate judge and was released on a $100,000 bond, had written the prescriptions at the request of Kramer, prosecutors said. Woodward and Kramer now could face up to 10 years in prison and heavy fines on the healthcare fraud charge. Kramer of Napa is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Woodward also faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for charges of unlawfully prescribing oxycodone and other controlled substances to other patients, prosecutors added. Both defendants are expected to appear in federal court Jan. 29.