Baton Rouge paramedic pleads guilty after pretending to be doctor

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A Baton Rouge paramedic who allegedly called in prescriptions while pretending to be a doctor has taken a plea deal.

Samrat Mukherjee, of Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty to false statements relating to healthcare matters, announced Acting U.S. Attorney April M. Leon on Monday, March 10. For his conviction, Mukherjee is facing up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.

Charges were initially filed against Mukherjee, then 35, in December of 2023, accusing him of holding himself as a medical doctor and making false statements.

RELATED: Grand jury indicts paramedic accused of pretending to be a doctor

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Mukherjee admitted, as part of his guilty plea, that “he falsely held himself out to co-workers and friends as a licensed medical doctor” while employed as a licensed paramedic by Acadian Ambulance. He also admitted to creating a fake medical degree and fake residency match letter, and attending a celebration for his medical school graduation, despite having never attended medical school.

While pretending to be a doctor, officials said Mukherjee was given physician access privileges at several hospitals where he spent time seeing patients in the intensive care unit, among other areas of the hospital. They said he wore “M.D.” and “Flight Surgeon” insignia on his clothing and was given badges from area hospitals and Acadian Ambulance identifying him as a physician.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Mukherjee falsely claimed to be two doctors and called in prescriptions to various pharmacies for himself and others between roughly May 2019 and November 2022. This reportedly caused the pharmacies to submit claims to health care benefit programs, including Medicaid and BCBSLA, for reimbursement.

Officials gave one example where in October of 2022 Mukherjee reportedly forged the signature of a doctor to prescribe Ondansetron-ODT, 4mg tablets, for a patient who was undergoing cancer treatment.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, aside from not having a medical school education or the certification required to write the prescription himself, Mukherjee did not consult with the patient’s oncologist before writing the prescription and did not have the authority of the doctor to write the prescription.

Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.