Press Release: 5/26/2026

AG's Office Secures Indictments Against Two West Brookfield Physicians for Illegally Prescribing Controlled Substances and Medicaid Fraud

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

5/26/2026

MEDIA CONTACT

Kennedy Sims, Deputy Press Secretary

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Call Kennedy Sims, Deputy Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543

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Email Kennedy Sims, Deputy Press Secretary at Kennedy.Sims@mass.gov

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced today that Dr. Jeffrey J. Jones and Dr. James C. Wilson III were indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury on eight counts each of Illegal Prescribing of Controlled Substances – including combinations of opioids, stimulants, and benzodiazepines – and one count each of Medicaid False Claims. The AGO alleges that the doctorsillegally prescribed various controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose, causing pharmacies to submit false claims to MassHealth, and for prescribing controlled substances to patients who had a known history ofsubstance use disorder and some with overdose events. Jones’s and Wilson’s shared practice, West Brookfield Family Practice (WBFP), was also indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury for submitting false claims to MassHealth for office visits when these allegedly illegal prescriptions were issued. 

According to the AGO, Jones and Wilson consistently failed to meet standards of care when prescribing controlled substances to WBFP patients. The AGO alleges that both physicians failed to regularly execute controlled substance agreements, such as pain contracts, with their patients, conduct pill counts, or document that they had checked the prescription monitoring program (PMP), all of which are standard practice. The Defendants are also accused of continuing to prescribe controlled substances to patients who exhibited clear and repeated signs of misuse and diversion, including to those who had previously suffered an overdose event, requested early refills, or had concerning urine drug test results – indicating that they had failed to take their prescribed medication or tested positive for illicit substances. The AGO also alleges that several of Jones’s and Wilson’s patients received multiple controlled substances at a time for years, and at times when the patients were not seen in the practice for months. Such prescribing raises the risk of addiction as well as the general danger of combining drugs, which can cause overdose or death.   

In addition to the alleged illegal prescribing, Jones and Wilson are accused of billing and receiving payment from MassHealth and MassHealth managed care entities (MCEs) for office visits during which they authorized prescriptions for controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose, which then caused pharmacies to submit false claims to MassHealth for the illegal prescriptions  

The Drug Enforcement Administration suspended Jones’s and Wilson’s abilities to prescribe controlled substances on May 6, 2026. 

This matter is the AGO’s most recent effort to address the root causes of the opioid crisis and hold companies and individuals accountable for their role in contributing to the nationwide epidemic. In November 2025, the AGO secured a guilty plea from a Dracut physician charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in connection to the illegal prescribing of opioids. In July 2025, the AGO secured up to $17 million in opioid abatement funds for Massachusetts as a part of a landmark nationwide settlement with eight drug makers that manufactured opioid pills and contributed to the nationwide opioid crisis.   

This matter is being handled by Managing Attorney Katie Davis, Senior Trial Counsel Elisha Willis, Investigations Supervisor Christopher Cecchini, Investigator Emily Hunt, and Assistant Investigator Keira Lee Cooney, all of the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Division, in close collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Massachusetts State Police. MassHealth provided substantial assistance with the investigation. 

The AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, annually certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute health care providers who defraud the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth. The Medicaid Fraud Division also has jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of residents in long-term care facilities and of Medicaid patients in any health care setting. Individuals may file a MassHealth fraud complaint or report cases of abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients or long-term care residents by visiting the AGO’s website.  

The Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $6,458,176 for federal fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,152,724 for FY 2026, is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.