Peters doctor faces federal charges for opioid prescriptions, steroid injections
Staff writer
A Peters Township doctor was indicted on federal charges this week and accused of supplying unnecessary painkillers and steroid injections to several patients for more than four years at his South Hills clinic.
The 242-count indictment against John Keun Sang Lee accuses him of providing painkillers to five people on multiple occasions between May 2016 and last October, while also billing medical insurers for unneeded injections during that time period.
In the indictment, Lee, 78, of 125 Froebe Road, Venetia, allegedly offered various Schedule II prescription drugs “outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose” to the patients.
He faces one count for each of the 241 prescriptions he wrote for more than four years. In many cases, the five patients received nearly 100 opioid pills at a time each month.
The other charge accuses Lee of providing steroid injections that “were neither reasonable nor medically necessary,” but he charged Medicare and Medicaid for the procedures in attempt to defraud the health care programs, according to court documents.
The indictment also claims Lee performed the injections “directly against the patient’s express wishes” at times. Those injections increased his revenue, the indictment alleges, and he also paid bonuses to employees if they brought referrals.
Lee operated the Jefferson Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic at 4735 Clairton Blvd. in Whitehall Township.
The federal grand jury in Pittsburgh handed down the indictment Wednesday and it was made public Thursday. No attorney was listed for Lee as of Friday afternoon.