DOCTOR ACCUSED OF FRAUD

A South Lake Tahoe doctor has been accused of prescribing highly addictive
drugs to people who didn't need them and committing fraud against Medi-Cal.

Joseph Simon, 72, was arraigned Monday in El Dorado County Superior Court
on eight counts of drug diversion and one count of fraudulent medical
claims. Both charges are felonies.

Visiting Judge Thomas Smith released Simon on his own recognizance. A Nov.
10 court date will schedule his preliminary hearing.

Simon is charged with overprescribing drugs such as OxyContin, a federally
controlled narcotic. OxyContin, an opiate-based pain reliever that has been
compared to heroin, made recent headlines when conservative radio
commentator Rush Limbaugh admitted he was addicted to the drug.

Simon, reached at his office at 3447 Lake Tahoe Blvd. by phone, referred
questions to his counsel Richard Specchio and Pasadena-based Tracy Green.

"My instructions are to refer you nice men and women to (them)," Simon said.

Green and Specchio did not return phone calls.

An investigation was started in February 2002 by SLEDNET, South Shore's
drug enforcement team overseen by the California Department of Justice and
comprised of authorities in surrounding agencies. Chris Elliott, task force
commander of SLEDNET, declined comment

The agency received tips Simon was reportedly overprescribing. Search
warrants of patient records and evidence obtained during the investigation
led to the charges, according to officials.

The attorney general's office began investigating in September 2002. Simon
allegedly caused pharmacies to present fraudulent claims to the Medi-Cal
program when he would prescribe medications without medical necessity.

The complaint, filed by Deputy Attorney General Sharon Lueras in the Bureau
of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, cited eight people by first name and
last initial who were allegedly prescribed drugs "without legitimate
medical" purposes between October 2001 and October 2003.

The false claim to Medi-Cal occurred somewhere between August 1999 and
August 2003.

Officials at Sierra Recovery Center said people in South Lake Tahoe started
abusing OxyContin about three years ago. It's chewed or snorted to bypass
the time release.

Angela Brown gave a survey to South Tahoe High School seniors last year and
was astonished by the amount of teenagers who wrote they have used the drug
called "Oxi" or "O."

"They all do it," she said. "It's a huge problem."

Herb Dean, a counselor at Sierra Recovery Center, said OxyContin is usually
consumed once a day compared to Vicodin which is consumed one every four to
six hours.

Unfortunately, Dean said, people are starting to add it to their other
abusive vices.

"You do see it (in Tahoe.) That's the bad rap." he said. "But it is a very
effective medication if used properly."

Christina Clem, a spokeswoman with the attorney general's office, said an
estimated $1 billion to $3 billion per year is lost in Medi-Cal fraud.