Becker’s has reported on nine physicians who are facing fraud cases in the last month:
- Miramar, Fla.-based Vohra Wound Physicians Management and its founder Ameet Vohra, MD, are facing a federal complaint alleging a Medicare fraud scheme involving overbilling and unnecessary wound care services provided to nursing home patients.
- Junyi Liu, an acupuncturist from Great Neck, N.Y., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Between 2018 and 2021, she led a scheme that billed Medicare and other insurers for fake or unnecessary acupuncture and physical therapy services at clinics throughout New York City.
- A federal jury has convicted a Kentucky physician — José Alzadon, MD — among other parties, for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Kentucky Medicaid via Kentucky Addiction Centers. Dr. Alzadon, Michael Bregenzer, Kentucky Addiction Centers’ former CEO, and Barbie Vanhoose, former billing manager, allegedly fraudulently billed over $8 million for services that were not rendered or upcoded from addiction treatment facilities in Winchester, Paducah, Paintsville and London, Ky.
- Zachary Lipman, MD, of Chico, Calif., paid $290,000 and Michael Woo-Ming, MD, of Murrieta, Calif., agreed to pay $85,000 to resolve allegations relating to a fraud scheme that caused the false claims to Medicare. Both settlements are connected to a fraud scheme run by Kevin Brown, a chiropractor in California. Mr. Brown used his companies to receive Medicare reimbursements for surgically implanted neurostimulators, even though the companies neither performed surgeries or implanted neurostimulators.
- Robert Burkich, MD, and his practice in Ringgold, Ga., will pay $700,000 to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary chelation therapy. From September 2009 to January 2017, Dr. Burkich allegedly billed Medicare for administering edetate calcium disodium, a chelation drug used to treat lead poisoning, to patients who did not need the medication.
- Mount Airy, N.C.-based Wendell Randall, MD, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2 million for his role in a fraud scheme. Dr. Randall, the sole physician and owner of the National Institute of Toxicology, regularly prescribed controlled substances such as opioids to patients without regard to whether they were medically necessary.
- Maria Batilo, MD, several home health agencies and a laboratory have been indicted for their role in a $7.8 million fraud and kickback scheme. Dr. Bartilo was indicted for allegedly participating in illegal kickback arrangements and submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims,
- Slidell, La.-based Robert Tassin, MD, was charged in connection with an alleged $6.6 million fraud scheme. Between February and September 2019, Dr. Tassin allegedly signed physician orders for genetic cancer screening tests through purported telemedicine companies for Medicare beneficiaries he never saw, spoke to or treated.
- El Paso, Texas-based John Patterson, MD, agreed to pay $468,626 to resolve false claims allegations.vDr. Patterson allegedly received kickbacks from Nursemind Home Care, a freestanding hospice provider, in exchange for falsely certifying patients as eligible for hospice care.
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