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July 2, 2021

Select Medical Corporation (SMC) and Encore GC Acquisition LLL have agreed to pay $8.4 million to settle allegations that contract rehabilitation therapy provider Select Medical Rehabilitation Services Inc. (SMRS)—a previous subsidiary of SMC and current subsidiary of Encore—violated the False Claims Act.  According to former SMRS employee Melissa Vail, SMRS’s desire to maximize profits led it to provide medically unnecessary, unreasonable, and unskilled therapy services, and subsequently caused twelve skilled nursing facilities in the New York and New Jersey area to submit false claims to Medicare over a six-year period.  USAO NJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud, SNF, Whistleblower Case,

June 25, 2021

Connecticut Addiction Medicine, LLC (CAM) and its owners, Dr. Jay Benson and Dr. Mahboob Aslam, have agreed to pay over $1 million to resolve their liability under the False Claims Act in connection with overcharges for urine drug tests that they caused to Medicare and Medicaid.  As part of their standard practice, CAM ran presumptive tests in-house but also sent the same sample out to an independent reference laboratory for definitive tests.  CAM then billed federal healthcare programs for the medically unnecessary presumptive tests.  USAO CT

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

June 23, 2021

El Paso Ear, Nose & Throat Associates (EPENT) has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle allegations of defrauding Medicaid, Medicare, and TRICARE.  In violation of the False Claims Act, EPENT allegedly billed the programs at a higher rate of reimbursement than what they were actually entitled to by upcoding evaluation and management codes.  USAO WDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud, Upcoding,

June 11, 2021

Two integrative chiropractic practices in Pennsylvania and their chiropractor owners have agreed to pay over $800,000 to resolve liability under the False Claims Act in connection with an electro-acupuncture device.  The settling parties are Discover Optimal Healthcare, affiliate Weigner Healthcare Management Group, LLC, and owner Jason Weigner (collectively, “Weigner”), and Yucha Medical Pain Management & Chiropractic Rehabilitation, LLC, and owners Randolph Yucha and Rodney Gabel.  Between 2016 and 2017, the parties allegedly billed Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program for the surgical implantation of neuro-stimulators, even though the devices involved—ANSiStim—are not reimbursable and can be applied with adhesives.  USAO EDPA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Other Government Health Programs, Provider Fraud,

June 10, 2021

Three Texas-based healthcare providers who allegedly billed Medicare for non-reimbursable procedures involving electro-acupuncture devices have agreed to pay over $1 million in settle their liability under the False Claims Act.  For up to two years, each of the providers—Ledger Foot & Ankle, P.A., SPR Medical Group d/b/a Superior Physical Medicine, and Precision Spine and Pain Management—allegedly billed the application of two pain management devices, ANSiStim and STIVAX, as though they were implantable neurostimulators, when in fact their application was non-surgical and non-invasive.  Following a Medicare audit, Superior and Precision self-disclosed improperly billed claims and initiated refund payments to Medicare.  USAO WDTX

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Medical Devices and DME, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

May 26, 2021

Nurse practitioner Trivikram Reddy was sentenced to 20 years in prison following his guilty plea on healthcare conspiracy and wire fraud charges.  Reddy stole the identities of six physicians to submit fraudulent bills to Medicare and private insurers including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Cigna. When federal agents began their investigation, Reddy took steps to manufacture medical records to support his fraudulently-submitted bills, and diverted millions of dollars in proceeds of the fraud to himself.  In addition to the prison sentence, Reddy was ordered to pay more than $52 million in restitution.  USAO ND TX

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, Healthcare Fraud, Medical Billing Fraud, Provider Fraud,

May 26, 2021

HEAG Pain Management Center, P.A. (HEAG) and its owner, Dr. Kwadwo Gyarteng-Dakwa (Dr. Dakwa), have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle allegations of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.  According to the government, the defendants knowingly submitted or caused the submission of claims for medically unnecessary diagnostic testing between 2011 and 2016.  AG NC; USAO MDNC

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Improper Medical Personnel, Lack of Medical Necessity, Medicaid, Medicare, Provider Fraud,

May 25, 2021

Upper Allegheny Health System (UAHS), which operates dental clinics in New York and Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve whistleblower-brought allegations of submitting false claims to Medicaid in violation of the federal and New York False Claims Acts.  Between 2010 and 2015, UAHS had billed Medicaid for dental services performed using improperly sterilized handpieces, which are considered semi-critical devices and need to be properly heat sterilized between patients.  AG NY; USAO WDNY; USAO WDPA

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Devices and DME, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

May 18, 2021

Javaid Perwaiz, an ob/gyn who practiced in Hampton Roads, Virginia, was sentenced to 59 years in prison after a jury convicted him of charges related to his performance of hysterectomies, sterilizations, and other medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures on patients without their informed consent - in many cases by falsely telling them they had cancer or needed the procedure to avoid cancer.  In addition, Perwaiz induced labor in patients early so that he could bill for the deliveries, sometimes falsifying records to support the induction.  USAO ED VA

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, Lack of Medical Necessity, Provider Fraud,

May 14, 2021

Texas dentists Gunjan Dhir and Gaurav Puri and their affiliated management companies and practice groups will pay $3.1 million to resolve allegations that they fraudulently charged the Texas Medicaid program for pediatric dental services.  The investigation was initiated by the filing of a qui tam complaint by whistleblowers Sandy Puga, Nelda Torres-Brown, and Sonia Cardoso, who were former employees of defendants and will receive an undisclosed share the settlement.  Defendants allegedly billed for services that were not actually provided and/or misreported the provider of services by using erroneous Medicaid provider numbers.  USAO ND Texas

Tagged in: FCA Federal, FCA State, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medical Billing Fraud, Provider Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

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