Press Release  Ludlow Doctor Sentenced to Jail for Illegally Prescribing Opioids to At-Risk Patients

PITTSFIELD — A Ludlow physician has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail and must permanently resign his medical license for illegally prescribing opioids to patients for no legitimate medical purpose, some of whom had documented substance use disorder, and for defrauding the state’s Medicaid program (MassHealth), Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Today, Berkshire Superior Court Judge Edward J. McDonough, Jr. sentenced Dr. Fernando Jayma, age 74, a solo practitioner of general medicine in Ludlow, to two-and-a-half years in the House of Correction, with three years of probation to serve upon his release. Dr. Jayma was also ordered to permanently resign his medical license and to pay $9,778 in restitution to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Jayma prescribed opioids, including oxycodone, morphine, methadone and fentanyl, to patients for no legitimate medical purpose and to some who had documented substance use disorder. Dr. Jayma also continued to prescribe fentanyl and oxycodone to a patient who in the recent past was determined to have overdosed on fentanyl.

“An overwhelming majority of prescribers and pharmacists are working hard to responsibly treat their patients, but those who aren’t are creating a public health risk that impacts us all,” AG Healey said. “This doctor recklessly prescribed addictive opioids to patients with documented substance abuse problems. My office will continue to do all that we can to combat this crisis and work with partners here and nationally to change the culture around the prescribing of opioids.”

In April, Dr. Jayma pleaded guilty in Hampden Superior Court to charges of Illegal Prescribing of Controlled Substances (22 counts), Medicaid False Claims (18 counts), and Larceny over $250 (1 count).

Dr. Jayma was indicted in November 2015 following an investigation by the AG’s Office after the matter was referred by MassHealth. In state fiscal year 2013, Dr. Jayma was the second highest MassHealth prescriber of schedule II opioids.

The investigation revealed that in multiple instances, Dr. Jayma prescribed opioids, including oxycodone, morphine, methadone and fentanyl, to patients for no legitimate medical purpose. Dr. Jayma prescribed the drugs, which have a high potential for abuse, to some patients despite their documented substance abuse. The illegal prescriptions Dr. Jayma wrote caused pharmacies to unwittingly falsely bill MassHealth for the medication. 

In several instances, while urine drug screens were negative for the prescribed opioids, Dr. Jayma continued to prescribe opioids to those patients even though they tested positive for heroin or other non-prescribed opioids.

In addition to the illegal prescribing, Dr. Jayma arranged for another doctor to see his patients when he was out of the country and directed his office staff to bill MassHealth as if Dr. Jayma were treating those patients. The other doctor was not credentialed with MassHealth, and MassHealth would not have paid the claims if it knew that he, and not Dr. Jayma, had provided the services.

At the time of Dr. Jayma’s indictment, the AG’s Office worked with the Department of Public Health, the Board of Registration in Medicine, and local health officials to ensure that patients of Dr. Jayma were referred for proper care and treatment by other medical professionals.

AG Healey has made addressing the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts a priority of her office. The AG’s Office is looking at a host of other practices, from marketing by pharmaceutical companies, to pill diversion and drug trafficking by criminal entities, to coverage for substance abuse treatment by insurance companies. The AG’s Office also continues to work on solutions that include eliminating barriers to treatment and supporting prevention and education initiatives across the state.

This morning, in her address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, AG Healey announced that her office is committing a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to a new Fentanyl Strike Force. In partnership with the Massachusetts State Police, the task force will target heroin and fentanyl traffickers and dismantle their distribution networks across Massachusetts. The funds will expand the AG’s Office’s own drug enforcement work – which has increased sixfold since 2015 – and to build enhanced partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement. 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Steven Hoffman, Deputy Division Chief of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division, and Assistant Attorney General Alexandra Brazier, and was investigated by Medicaid Fraud Division Investigators Chris Cecchini and Nan Browne with assistance from members of the Attorney General’s Office Interagency Group on Illegal Prescribing (IGIP). The AG’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the following: Ludlow Police Department, MassHealth, Massachusetts Office of Inspector General, Hampden County District Attorney’s Office, United States Department of Health and Human Services, and DEA New England Field Division.

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