A New York doctor was sentenced to three years in state prison for unnecessary selling prescriptions to Medicaid recipients, leading to more than $685,000 in fraudulent billings.

Bipin Parikh

Bipin Parikh, 64, of Williston Park, N.Y., was sentenced to three years in state prison and ordered to pay $685,209 in restitution to the Medicaid program by Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan in Hudson County.

Parikh pleaded guilty Nov. 9, 2009, according to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Division of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor.

Parikh, a physician, admitted that between January 2004 and March 2008, he dispensed prescriptions to Medicaid recipients when the drugs prescribed were not medically necessary. An investigation determined that based on the unnecessary prescriptions dispensed by Parikh, Medicaid was fraudulently billed at least $685,209.

He also was accused of selling prescriptions for Percocet, a Schedule II narcotic, to undercover police officers.

The charges came after a joint investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Special Investigations Unit of the Jersey City Police Department.