A Columbia doctor was indicted in federal court on accusations that he was defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.
On April 8, 2026, Dr. Jonathan Wayne Morris, 46, was indicted with 15 counts of illegal prescribing of controlled substances and 23 counts of health care fraud.
Dr. Morris owned Columbia Urgent Care, starting in 2019.
A press release from the Eastern District of Missouri states that federal prosecutors said Morris incorrectly bills Medicare and Medicaid.
They said that he billed for services provided by assistant physicians (APs), who are medical school graduates who have not entered a residency program.
APs must be trained and supervised by a fully licensed physician.
The indictment stated that Morris did not train the APs, instead letting them train each other, and that he left them unsupervised.
Morris was also accused of prescribing drugs with no legitimate medical purpose.
The release stated that he prescribed drugs to friends, associates, and people with whom he had sexual relationships.
He was also accused of prescribing drugs to people with substance abuse disorders.
Morris was accused of accepting cash in some cases. In other cases, Morris was accused of prescribing the drugs to people whom he then made sexual advances on.
He allegedly submitted false claims to Medicaid and Medicare for fake controlled substance prescriptions.
The press release states that Morris issued about 15,000 doses of controlled substances to about 20 people.