A former pharmacy president was just sentenced to two years in federal prison for his role in a $33 million health care kickback scheme. The operation used a Clifton mail-order pharmacy to cheat Medicare, TRICARE, and commercial insurers out of millions.
Adam Brosius, 61, of Delray Beach, Florida, was sentenced on April 1 by Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in federal court in Newark. In addition to the 24-month prison term, Brosius was ordered to pay $33 million in restitution and $27 million in forfeiture, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.
How the Scheme Worked
From 2014 through 2016, Brosius and others used Main Avenue Pharmacy—a mail-order operation with a storefront in Clifton—to run an illegal kickback scheme centered around compounded drugs including scar creams, pain creams, migraine medications, and vitamins.
The drugs were chosen specifically because they yielded high reimbursement rates from health insurers.
The pharmacy created large prescription pads loaded with lucrative formulas and distributed them to marketers across the country. Those marketers funneled the prescriptions to telemedicine companies and doctors with financial arrangements tied to the operation.
Main Avenue would fill the prescriptions, submit reimbursement claims, and pay kickbacks to marketers based on referral volume and reimbursement amounts. Main Avenue scored approximately $33 million in reimbursements for compounded medications alone. Over $5.8 million was cheated from TRICARE—a federal health care program for military service members, retirees and their families.
Brosius and colleague Jeffrey Andrews pleaded guilty in federal court in September 2024 to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Brosius also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
The investigation was led by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.
The man at the center of the $33 million scheme will now face two years in prison.