A jury convicted a former medical director, Dr. Mark Agresti, M.D., 59, of Palm Beach, of fraud concerning services provided at a sober home program he was involved in. The criminal case, Justice Department’s Sober Homes Initiative, is part of a series of investigations in Palm Beach County related to fraud. Fraud in the sober home industry of Palm Beach has been so prevalent that they have their own Sober Homes Task Force that investigates crimes on the state level.

Good Decisions Sober Living, Fraud, And Kickbacks

Dr. Agresti was found to have ordered thousands of medically unnecessary services for patients at Good Decisions Sober Living (GDSL). In addition, for collecting monies and billing these patients, GDSL was paid kickbacks. This type of fraud scheme is outlawed explicitly in Florida.

This defendant, a medical doctor, was trusted to provide care to vulnerable patients,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in a press release. “Instead, he abused his position of trust in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. He took advantage of people seeking addiction treatment. His conviction further illustrates our commitment to protecting patients and prosecuting the owners, directors, and operators of facilities that seek to exploit them and underscores the importance of the work of the Department of Justice’s Sober Homes Initiative.”

Invasive and Unnecessary Urinalysis Testing

The jury found that once Dr. Agresti became the Medical Director for GDSL, he agreed to provide patients with standing orders for urinalysis drug tests. By billing and delivering these services, he was able to help GDSL make millions in dollars. They submitted to excessive, medically unnecessary urine drug tests as a condition of residency up to four days a week, and their insurance companies were charged thousands per month. Insurance was billed as much as $6,000 to $9,000 per test.

Three other defendants, including GDSL’s owner, previously pleaded guilty to related charges.

In the end, Dr. Agresti was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and 11 counts of health care fraud. His sentencing is on April 2, 2022. He faces up to 20 years in Federal Prison.