Tennessee has blocked three medical professionals from billing the TennCare program after they prescribed excessive amounts of psychiatric drugs and addictive painkillers, officials said.
In a March 1 letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, TennCare officials said they recently prohibited the prescribers from future billing after a review revealed high prescription rates for painkillers such as Oxycontin and Roxicodone.
Several other medical professionals in Tennessee are “under review” for high prescription rates, according to the March 1 letter, which the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained Tuesday.
Late Tuesday, TennCare spokeswoman Alyssa Lewis said the medical professionals, all in Knoxville, are licensed physician’s assistant Thomas Esser; Dr. Allen Foster, whose medical license was revoked after he pleaded guilty to health care fraud in U.S. District Court in 2011; and nurse practitioner Maimoune Wright, whose license was suspended in February for “unprofessional conduct,” state records show.
The three prescribers could not be reached for comment Tuesday.