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A Virginia ob/gyn has pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks for prescribing unnecessary compounded pain and scar creams and other pricey drugs, the .

Leonard Rosen, MD, of Fairfax Station, allegedly wrote "countless" prescriptions for the therapies after entering into a deal with a pharmacy owner, resulting in $1.8 million paid out by private insurers, DOJ reported.

"Rosen exploited healthcare programs and his patients for personal gain by participating in a scheme to prescribe medically unnecessary prescriptions in return for money, and those criminal actions have consequences," FBI special-agent-in-charge Wayne Jacobs, said in a statement.

The 72-year-old physician, who owns Fairfax OB-GYN Associates and has been in practice since 1980, met Mohamed Abdalla of Allendale, New Jersey, in 2014. Abdalla was a licensed pharmacist and owned multiple pharmacies in Northern Virginia, including Medex Health Pharmacy in Falls Church and Royal Care Pharmacy in Fairfax.

Prior to that meeting, Rosen hadn't prescribed expensive compounded medications. But he entered into an agreement with Abdalla to prescribe his pharmacies' pricey compounded pain and scar creams, for a cut of the profits.

Rosen made about $100,000 off these scripts, . From 2014 to 2018, he received a $100 kickback for every prescription he sent to Abdalla's pharmacies.

Abdalla's company sent Rosen a prescription pad with drugs already listed, and a nurse practitioner at Rosen's office would sign pages in advance, the Post reported.

Every patient who had surgery at Rosen's office started getting a prescription for a custom scar cream, according to the Post, but Rosen admitted that only about 15% of these scripts were medically necessary and that patients could have used over-the-counter steroids to prevent scars instead.

Rosen also admitted to getting kickbacks from Abdalla for prescribing anti-inflammatory drugs and for signing off on prescriptions for an expensive red algae powder without knowing what it was used for, the Post reported.

Three other doctors are alleged to be involved in this scheme, but they haven't been publicly charged or named. Abdalla was sentenced in March to 4 years in prison.

Rosen is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, although the DOJ noted that "actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties."

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