North Texas Doctor And 2 Members Of His Team Charged With Federal Drug Crimes, Fraud

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A federal grand jury has indicted three Arlington healthcare professionals for drug crimes and fraud.

Dr. Clinton Battle, an Arlington physician, and Donna Green, his nurse practitioner, have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Dr. Battle and his medical assistant, Yajaira Lopez, have also been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

His current practice, Arlington Occupational and Medical Clinic, is located on East Abram Street in Arlington.

According to the indictment, Dr. Battle, 67, routinely issued prescriptions for controlled substances – including hydrocodone, codeine, tramadol, Xanax, phentermine and other controlled substances – allegedly without conducting a proper medical examination of his patients, knowing that the drugs would likely be diverted for illicit distribution.

At times, Dr. Battle allegedly issued prescriptions for controlled substances without conducting any medical examination at all, sometimes telling office staff to issue prescriptions for whichever controlled substance the patient wanted.

In return for these phony prescriptions, Dr. Battle allegedly received multiple forms of remuneration – including illicit drugs.

Dr. Battle also allegedly allowed Green to use his DEA registration number and medical credentials to issue prescriptions for controlled substances, knowing that Green was not legally authorized to issue such prescriptions.

Meanwhile, Dr. Battle and Lopez allegedly worked together to submit falsified claims to health insurers, including the Texas Workers' Compensation system.

For example, they allegedly "up-coded" claims for medical procedures, billing for higher reimbursement levels than were authorized based on the medical service provided.

If convicted, Dr. Battle faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Green and Lopez face up to 10 and 5 years, respectively.