OAKLAND COUNTY — A medical center in Commerce Township was raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Tuesday, in connection to a large scale health fraud involving 13 suspects so far from the U.S. and Canada.

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital’s Dr. Rajat Daniel, 47, of Union Lake Medical Center, has been implicated in the ring, along with 12 other physicians and pharmacists. The FBI, the Inspector General of the Department of Health along with the Human Services, collaborated with U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade in the investigation.

Babubhai Patel, the original owner indicted, is accused of a “conspiracy to distribute controlled substances at the Patel pharmacies to facilitate the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Some of the controlled substances named included oxycodone, xanax, and vicodin. 

“Taxpayers fund Medicare and Medicaid to provide health care for needy citizens. We hope that doctors and pharmacists will take note that if they exploit these programs for personal profit, they will face serious consequence,” McQuade said in a press release  

Some of the suspects were already included in a 2011 indictment involving the owner of 26 pharmacies statewide who provided kickbacks, bribes and other illegal benefits to physicians to coax them to participate in a closed medical billing and prescription fraud ring. Of all the 13 indicted Tuesday, new defendants included five doctors, four pharmacists, and a home health agency owner.