Podiatry Malpractice Blog : Podiatry Malpractice Lawyer & Attorney : Michael A. Quinn Law Firm : Surgery, Amputation, Podiatric Medicine : New Jersey

Ohio  podiatrist, Dr. Harold M. Jones, DPM,   has been found guilty in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. Dr. Jones, 45, recently went on trial in Cleveland on 22 counts of healthcare fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft and 26 counts of mail fraud. The jury found him guilty on three of the counts, after three days of deliberations and not guilty on the remainder of the charges.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roberts, Dr. Jones had used improper billing codes, billed for services that were not rendered and also billed under a false provider number. The doctor was also accused of using another medicare provider number and person’s name in order to submit false claims for reimbursement.

Source: The News-Herald (2-24-09)

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A  podiatrist from Scranton, PA,  plead guilty  to taking between $10,000 and $30,000 in Medicare payments for services he did not provide.

Podiatrist Thomas Rittenhouse, DPM, entered a guilty plea to one count of making a false statement in a health care matter. These charge carry up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

At the plea hearing, the Assistant U.S. Attorney said doctor Rittenhouse had filed claims with Medicare between  2003 and  2008 and was paid for services he never provided to patients.  Dr. Rittenhouse is accused of claiming to have performed "nail avulsions", a procedure in which a toenail is removed, but actually just provided routine foot care.

Although the exact amount has not yet been calculated, Dr. Rittenhouse admitted the amount  was between $10,000 and $30,000, and in likely the doctor will be required to pay back the amount that he had received  through filing the fake claims.

Thomas Rittenhouse, DPM,  remains free while awaiting sentencing in Federal Court which is currently set for May 26.

Source: The Times Tribune - 2-18-09

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West Peoria podiatrist was sentenced Friday to one year in federal prison for bilking Medicare out of thousands of dollars over the past decade by writing bills for medical procedures he didn't perform. Dr. Ernest Nwani, 57, also was ordered to repay $109,127 to Medicare and Medicaid for the bogus operations, some 400 of them in all.

Nwani, the sole medical provider for Footworld Medical Center, which he operated out of his house, admitted he defrauded the government by billing for services he didn't provide or didn't provide to the level that he charged Medicare. A company hired by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat fraud last year noted irregular billing practices by the doctor. An investigation revealed patients did not have procedures or even surgeries for which Nwani had billed Medicare.

From 2002 until 2006, Nwani submitted claims, which Medicare paid, for 539 surgical procedures of various types regarding 442 patients and claims for the permanent removal of 1,082 toenails from 394 patients, according to court records. Medicare paid $171,760 for the surgeries and $100,180 for the toenail removals. Thirty-three patients were interviewed and of those, "none of the surgeries billed for these 33 patients and for which Medicare paid, could be verified as having been performed," court records state.

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Authorities said that  podiatrist Michael Schmierer, D.PM. from Holmdel  ran clinics in Middlesex and Union counties in New Jersey has admitted to obstructing a federal health-care audit.

Dr. Michael Schmierer is a partner in Advantage Foot and Ankle Centers.  On August 7, he  plead guilty  in U.S. District Court in Trenton to one count of obstructing a federal audit.

Schmierer's podiatry practice had centers in Linden, South Amboy, East Brunswick,  Linden and Oldbridge. 

Advantage Foot and Ankle Center was audited by a Medicare contractor responsible for detecting Medicare fraud.  Medicare requested 25 original medical records of patients who had been treated at Advantage and had submitted claims for reimbursement for those treatments.

Authorities determined that Schmierer and co-conspirators re-wrote patient notes in 7 of the 25  files to in order to enhance the claims sent to Medicare. Schmierer admitted that the seven records had been altered to justify the billing.

Dr. Schmierer's sentence is scheduled for November 18 and he  faces a maximum of five years in prison and as much as a $250,000 fine, however sentencing guidelines call for a 12 to 18 months sentence in prison.

Source: mycenteraljersey.com [8/7/08]

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A podiatrist from Illinois pleaded guilty Friday to bilking Medicare out of thousands of dollars over the past decade by writing bills for medical procedures not performed. The podiatrist's  attorney Ron Hamm contends the amount is less than $20,000, however the government is claiming the amount is closer to $270,000.

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