Hospitals, Laboratories, and Clinics

March 2004

In Arizona, two operators of a small community mental health clinic were sentenced for false statements relating to health care matters. They were each ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution. The investigation revealed that they used a matrix of keywords in order to systematically create false progress notes to pass the Medicare carrier’s medical review. They also photocopied doctors’ signatures on plans-of-care to keep patients in the partial hospitalization program for extended periods of time.

Transportation Fraud

March 2004

In Georgia, two individuals and an ambulance company were sentenced related to charges of providing medically unnecessary ambulance runs and for using non-licensed personnel. One of the individuals was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and the other was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The company was ordered to pay a $650,000 fine. In addition, they were ordered to pay $959,000 in joint and several restitution.

Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals

March 2004

In Pennsylvania, a chiropractor was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and restitution for mail fraud in connection with the death of a Medicaid patient. A world-renowned chiropractor, the woman admitted that she deprived patients of their intangible right to her honest services by acting outside the scope of her field in treating patients with conditions such as epilepsy and Down Syndrome. The chiropractor admitted that the death of a 32-year-old epileptic Medicaid patient in 1999 was the direct result of her actions when she convinced the woman that she could cure her of her epilepsy. She informed her patient that to be seizure free, she must be drug free. As such, she convinced the patient to stop taking her anti-convulsive medications. After discontinuing the medications, the patient began to experience violent grand mal seizures, some of which occurred in the chiropractor's presence, over the next several days. The chiropractor took no steps to seek proper medical treatment for her patient, despite the fact that she could no longer walk, was forced to wear adult diapers, was confined to a wheel chair, was severely dehydrated, had aspirated the contents of her stomach into her lungs and was unconscious. From April 26, 1999 through April 28, 1999, the patient was taken in this condition to see the chiropractor who characterized her condition as normal and that she was merely getting the drugs out of her system. The chiropractor specifically warned the patient's fiancé that if he took her to the hospital, she would be administered the anti-convulsive medications and she could die. The patient was pronounced dead in the early morning of April 29, 1999. The cause of death was complications from uncontrolled epilepsy.

Child Support Enforcement

March 2004

In Virginia, a man was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, 1 year supervised release and ordered to pay $62,000 in restitution for failure to pay child support. In order to avoid paying child support, the man used numerous aliases and social security numbers. When arrested, the man was using an alias but was correctly identified through a match of fingerprints on file with the FBI.