Winston Clears Doctor Accused of Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering

Just one week before a five-week trial, Winston obtained a full dismissal of all criminal charges against client Dr. Leyla Nourian, who had been indicted in 2017 on charges related to an alleged $158M health care fraud and money-laundering scheme involving compound pharmacies owned and operated by her family members. The indictment accused the defendants of paying kickbacks to physicians to send prescriptions to the pharmacies for compound creams used to treat scars, wounds, and pain with rates of up to $28,000 per container paid for by the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation.

Winston was hired in July 2021 to try the case before a jury on Dr. Nourian’s behalf. In the months leading up to trial, Winston negotiated relentlessly with the Department of Justice to seek a resolution of the case that would eliminate any risk that Dr. Nourian would face prison time. Winston’s persistent efforts, and pretrial filings—which included evidence from a handwriting expert showing Dr. Nourian had not participated in the scheme and that her brother and others had forged her signature—convinced the DOJ that it had pursued the wrong defendant.

As Dallas Managing Partner Thomas Melsheimer put it: “To say this is an unusually successful result is to say that snow in a Texas summer is unusual. Almost unheard of, especially after the case had been pending so long and the alleged fraud was so large.”

In addition to Tom, the Winston team included Partner Scott Thomas.