In March 2016, Paul Singh was sentenced to six months in prison followed by one year of home detention for defrauding patients and insurers by using unapproved intrauterine devices (IUDs) in patients and billing them as approved IUDs. 

According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, as a practicing OB/GYN in California, Singh implanted his female patients with non-FDA-approved copper IUDs he had knowingly purchased online. He fraudulently billed for these implants as FDA-approved IUDs. Only one type of copper IUD, the ParaGard T-380A, is approved by FDA. The DOJ noted that a non-FDA-approved copper IUD "can result in an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, hysterectomy, and other serious complications."

Patients and insurers were not aware Singh was using unapproved IUDs--action that he profited from because the approved IUDs he billed for cost more than those he actually implanted. Singh continued this behavior from April 2008 to June 2012 despite numerous bulletins and newsletters cautioned against use of unapproved IUDs and even after FDA agents confronted him, the DOJ release stated.

The DOJ noted that according to the plea agreement, patients had complained about medical complications they attributed to the IUD insertion, but "in multiple instances, Singh responded to such complaints by re-inserting the IUD rather than removing it."

Singh's sentence: Six months in prison, then one year of home detention.

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