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

A St. Louis, Missouri podiatrist has plead guilty to obstructing a federal audit when she provided the Medicare program with a false and backdated treatment record, U.S.  said Thursday.

Bic Chau Stafford, D.P.M., 59, who practices at the Family Foot and Ankle Care Center in Maryland Heights, as well as assorted assisted living facilities in St. Louis County and St. Louis City, plead guilty to one felony count of obstruction of a federal audit.  When sentenced Dr. Stafford faces fines of up to $250,000 and  maximum penalty of five years in prison. 

Prosecutors said that Dr. Stafford allegedly billed Medicare for complex foot surgeries provided to 39  Medicare beneficiaries when she was really providing these patients with only routine foot care, such as toenail clippings

Prosecutors said, in response to a Medicare audit, Dr. Stafford created new treatment records for the 39 patients in 2007 and backdated them to 2004, and claimed that she had provided these patients with podiatric surgery.
 

Source: St. Louis Business Journal (April 2, 2009)

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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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