CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — – A physician assistant has been sentenced for an alleged $10 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Colby Edward Joyner, 37, of Monroe, was sentenced to 6 years and prison and ordered to pay more than $3.6 million in restitution. This is after he was convicted last June of healthcare fraud and making false statements related to healthcare matters.
According to court documents, Joyner worked as a physician assistant in the Charlotte area between 2018 and 2019. He was hired as an independent contractor for a physician staffing and telemedicine company.
Officials say Joyner fraudulently signed prescriptions for genetic testing, in particular for cancer genomic and pharmacogenetic, for over 600 people with Medicare in North Carolina. These tests were not medically necessary, and Joyner had never met any of these people, either having brief phone conversations or no interaction with them.