Doctor To Pay $1.8M In Suits Claiming Needless Surgeries

Doctor To Pay $1.8M In Suits Claiming Needless Surgeries

Introduction

After being accused of doing unneeded procedures, a Conyers doctor agreed to pay almost $2 million in settlements.

After a lawsuit was filed, the doctor, who also operates a practise group, agreed to pay $1,850,000, alleging she did these procedures to earn Medicare insurance benefits.

From 2011 to 2016, the doctor was suspected of performing cataract extraction procedures and YAG laser capsulotomies on patients who did not have cataracts. During these treatments, some patients were wounded.

The lawsuit also alleged that the doctor "falsely diagnosed people with glaucoma" in order to charge Medicare, the government-funded insurance organisation that covers those patients.

These tests were either not conducted correctly, were performed on a defective equipment, or were not properly interpreted in the medical record, as required by Medicare.

The action was brought by a former employee of the doctor under the terms of the False Claims Act. The statute authorized the employee to sue the doctor on behalf of the United States for fraudulent claims.

The US Department of Health and Human Services put a payment suspension on the doctor's practice group in 2019 during the case, which was unsuccessfully contested in court.

Following the settlement, the doctor and her practice signed an Integrity Agreement and a Conditional Exclusion Release. Every year, the doctor will have to go through training and engage an outside organization to examine the claims made by her clinic.