The Brief
- Spring pharmacist Tronown Thomas faces up to five years in prison after being convicted in a massive healthcare kickback scheme.
- Federal officials say the pharmacist paid millions to a Houston clinic owner in exchange for lucrative patient referrals.
- Thomas received more than $20 million in federal reimbursements over nearly two years.
HOUSTON – A Spring pharmacist faces time in federal prison after being found guilty by a federal jury of conspiring to pay millions of dollars in illegal healthcare kickbacks.
Tronown Thomas, 54, owned and operated Rayford ACP Pharmacy. He was convicted of conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks after a five-day trial.
$20 million kickback scheme
The backstory:
During the trial, it was argued Thomas paid more than $2 million in kickbacks to the owner of a Houston clinic. In exchange, the clinic referred patients who were covered under the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL-OWCP) and prescribed expensive compounded medications.…