Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Paxton’s Inves­ti­ga­tion Leads to 10-Year Prison Sen­tence and Over $26 Mil­lion in Resti­tu­tion for Texas Doctor

DALLAS – Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has secured 10 years in federal prison and a $26,622,522 restitution payment for Dr. David M. Young, 61, of Fredericksburg, Texas, who was sentenced for his role in a scheme that defrauded government health care programs by prescribing durable medical equipment and genetic tests without seeing or treating patients.

Young signed thousands of fraudulent prescriptions and medical records for unnecessary orthotic braces and cancer genetic testing for more than 13,000 Medicare beneficiaries—many of whom he never spoke to or examined—including undercover agents posing as patients. The scheme resulted in the fraudulent billing of more than $70 million to healthcare programs.

“Medicaid fraud steals hundreds of millions from the taxpayers, and I will relentlessly pursue those who exploit these programs,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This doctor will pay more than $26 million in restitution and spend 10 years in jail for his actions. In the past four years my office has recovered nearly $1 billion for Texas taxpayers and I will continue to do everything in my power to hold wrong doers accountable.”

This case was investigated by Sergeant Michelle Killinger, Investigative Auditor Jennifer Blakely, and Captain Justin Boyce of Attorney General Paxton’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by the DOJ Health Care Strike Force in Dallas.

Since 2020, the MFCU has recovered more than $990 million in settlements, judgments, and restitution for Texas taxpayers. The MFCU receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $22.7M for fiscal year 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $7.5M, is funded by the State of Texas.