Convicted Lab Owner Fails to Report to Prison

In addition to the usual FCA-related fare, an arrest warrant was issued for a convicted lab co-owner after he failed to show up for prison.

Since our last Weekly Enforcement Report, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced several key healthcare-related cases. In one lab-related case of note, an arrest warrant was issued on May 6 for a former lab co-owner, who had previously been convicted and sentenced for his role in a kickback scheme, after he failed to report to prison.

Several False Claims Act (FCA) related cases were also announced.

Key Healthcare-Related Enforcement Actions Announced from April 26 – May 10, 2023

Date Action Announced	Defendant(s)	Allegations/Charges/Convictions	Result
April 26, 2023	David Lyle Shehi	Owner of an Alabama-based pain management clinic pled guilty to conspiracy to pay kickbacks and commit healthcare fraud relating to his referrals for items/services, including electro-diagnostic testing, that were then billed to Medicare.	Shehi awaits sentencing, but could see up to five years in prison.¹
April 26, 2023	Dr. Charles Lieber	Convicted of two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return, and two counts of making false statements to federal authorities relating to his participation in China’s Thousand Talents Plan and affiliation with the Wuhan University of Technology in Wuhan, China.	Sentenced to two days of time served in prison, two years of supervised release with six months’ home confinement, a fine of $50,000, and $33,600 in restitution to the IRS.²
April 28, 2023	Northwest Arkansas Hospitals, LLC	Following an audit by the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, the hospital was accused of not providing the proper documentation to support or justify the medical necessity requirement for hospitalizations in 246 cases, thus violating the Arkansas Medicaid False Claims Act. The hospital cooperated with the investigation.	Will repay the state Medicaid program $1,112,631.54.³
April 28, 2023	Hearing Screening Associates, LLC (HSA)	Allegedly submitted claims for audiology services under CPT code 92585 “that were not provided as claimed because audiologists did not read, interpret, or sign automated test results,” thus violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law. HSA self-disclosed the conduct to the OIG.	Settled for $4,015,227.04.⁴
April 28, 2023	· Dr. Fadi El-Atat · Dr. Sarah Abdul-Sater · FA CV Consultants P.C.	Two doctors and their medical practice allegedly violated the False Claims Act by performing and billing medically unnecessary procedures to Medicaid and Medicare. The allegedly unnecessary tests include allergy, cardiology ultrasound, autonomic nervous, pulmonary function, and balance tests.	Settled for $1 million.⁵
May 6, 2023	Richard Reid	The former co-owner of medical testing company Northwest Physicians Laboratory (NWPL) was convicted in March 2022 of five felonies related to an illegal $3.7 million urine drug testing kickback scheme.	After being sentenced to two years in prison in January, a warrant was issued May 6 for Reid’s arrest after he failed to report to prison the previous week. According to an update, he was apprehended by police on May 7 “without incident” and “remains detained.”⁶
May 9, 2023	Steven Donofrio	The California citizen was found guilty of his role in a more than $28 million kickback scheme relating to the referral of pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing to clinical labs in that state.	A sentencing date has not yet been set.⁷
May 9, 2023	Dr. Gautam Jayaswal	Pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud related to his involvement in a roughly $16 million telemedicine scheme in which he ordered medically unnecessary genetic tests and orthotic braces for thousands of patients, which were then billed to Medicare.	In addition to repaying the fraudulently obtained funds, Dr. Jayaswal could face up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both.⁸
May 9, 2023	· Blue Waters Assessment and Testing Services, LLC (BATS) · VerraLab JA, LLC (doing business as BioTap Medical)	The two Kentucky-based businesses are accused of improperly billing Medicare and the state Medicaid program for urine drug testing ordered by the Fayette County family courts. BATS collected and sent the specimens to BioTap for testing, which then billed the federal and state health insurance programs. However, because Medicare and the Kentucky Medicaid program only pay for tests used for medical diagnosis and treatment, the companies are accused of violating the FCA.	Settled for $1,740,620, $1,490,620 of which will be paid by BioTap, and $250,000 of which will be paid by BATS and its owner.⁹
May 9, 2023	· Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. · Northeast Medical Group, Inc.	Accused of violating both the federal and state FCA by submitting Medicare and Medicaid claims for services billed by physicians when those services should have been billed by mid-level providers at a lower reimbursement rate.	Settled for $560,718.48.¹⁰

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Northern District of Alabama, District of Massachusetts, District of New Jersey, Western District of Washington, Eastern District of Texas, Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern District of Kentucky, and District of Connecticut and the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.^1-10

Convicted Lab Owner Fails to Report to Prison

Key Healthcare-Related Enforcement Actions Announced from April 26 – May 10, 2023

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