The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that a Johnson County man has been sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for running one of the largest telemedicine schemes ever.

Brett Blackman, 43, owned and ran HealthSplash as its CEO. In September 2017, the company acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx LLC, known as DMERx.

According to business records with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office, HealthSplash began doing business in 2017.

Its status is listed as “Forfeited – Failed to Timely File.” Blackman was listed as the owner, with an address at a corporate office park near Blue Valley Parkway and Conser Street in Overland Park.

$1 billion in fraudulent medical equipment orders

Federal prosecutors say DMERx was used as an internet-based platform to generate false and fraudulent doctors’ orders for durable medical equipment and prescriptions for other items.

According to a DOJ news release, prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Blackman and his co-conspirators “aggressively targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries across the country to get them to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces and other items.”

Investigators from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service helped uncover the massive scheme.

Blackman and his co-conspirators billed Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs more than $1 billion for the unnecessary equipment.

“As a result of Blackman’s scheme, Medicare was fraudulently billed for orthotic braces for more than 346,000 Medicare beneficiaries,” the news release said. “On average, Medicare was billed for four braces per beneficiary, with Medicare being billed for at least 21 orthotics prescribed through Blackman’s DMERx platform to over 1,200 beneficiaries.”

Blackman’s trial lasted 23 days, and he was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in connection with health care matters.

A later court date will determine Blackman’s restitution and forfeiture obligations.

In December 2025, a co-conspirator named Gary Cox, 79, of Maricopa County, Arizona, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the scheme. Cox was the CEO of DMERx.