A Cannon County man is charged with TennCare fraud involving “doctor shopping,” or using the state’s public healthcare insurance program to go
to multiple doctors in a short time period to obtain prescriptions for a
controlled substance.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) with assistance from the Cannon
County Sheriff’s Office, Monday announced the arrest of James Chadwick
Emberton, 33, of Woodbury. An indictment accuses him of five counts of
fraudulently using TennCare by visiting multiple providers in order to
obtain painkillers: Oxycontin, Oxycodone and Endocet. The prescription,
the office visit, or both, were paid for by TennCare.
“A lot of healthcare providers are aware of the warning signs of people
who are feeding their own or someone else’s addiction with these drugs,”
Inspector General Deborah Y. Faulkner said. “As long as there’s a market
for these drugs, people will try to accommodate it – but we are intent on
keeping this activity out of the TennCare program.”
TennCare fraud is a Class E felony carrying a sentence of up to two years
in prison per charge. District Attorney General William Whitesell, Jr.
will be prosecuting this case.
