Friday, October 16, 2015

Boston Doctor Files Lawsuit Against Massachusetts Attorney General Over Medicaid Fraud Allegations

BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD, a multiple sclerosis neurologist practicing in theBoston area who is called Dr. Bharani by patients and colleagues, filed a lawsuit in Federal court alleging massive violations of the Computer Fraud And Abuse Act (18 USC §1030) and the Stored Communications Act (18 USC § 2701) by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, certain members of her staff and two employees of the state Board of Registration in Medicine.

The complaint states AG Maura Healey sent two investigators to Dr. Bharani’s home to immediately confiscate the “complete page-by-page medical records (written and electronic)” of 16 patients under the pretext that Dr. Bharani had committed Medicaid Fraud. The complaint alleges AG Maura Healey, who calls herself the People’s Lawyer, violated the law on behalf of her client, James Paikos, whom she is representing in a private civil case.

Dr. Bharani refused to hand over his patients’ records and his patients approved of their doctor’s refusal to hand over their personal medical records.

The complaint also states that Dr. Bharani has been seeing his patients for free for the past five years and the Government has not paid him one dime throughout that time.

Dr. Bharani said, “I had to file this lawsuit because the level of lawlessness within AG Maura Healey’s office should not be tolerated in a free country. Her actions have harmed me immensely. It is unheard of for an Attorney General, the highest elected law official, to suddenly send her people to a doctor’s home and scare his elderly parents, knowing he has not billed the Government or participated in Medicaid fraud.”

Dr. Bharani’s complaint alleges violations of access to the confidential prescription data of all his patients, stored on protected government computers, and states “Defendants’ chilling violation and conscious disregard for the explicitly-protected data privacy rights of the people is likely to be routine and affects anyone who had a prescription filled in Massachusetts, including residents of other States.”

The complaint seeks injunctive relief including referring AG Healey for criminal prosecution, as well as punitive damages. It may be downloaded at www.maurabrokecfaa.com
Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD
Brookline MA
EAST ST. LOUIS — A Brighton woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to engaging in a scheme to defraud a health care program.  
In a press release Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton said sentencing for Jessica A. Teets, 27, has been set for Feb. 9 in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis. She faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
During her plea hearing, Teets admitted she had submitted false and fraudulent bills in relation to her alleged performance of personal assistant services in the Illinois Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. Teets admitted to falsely billing the program between Dec. 7, 2012, and June 30, 2014, falsely claiming she had rendered personal assistant services to a customer. As a result, Teets improperly billed 111 hours of services and obtained $1,312 in payments for services not performed.
Teets further admitted that her customer was found July 1, 2014, in an incoherent state and partially covered in dried excrement by a friend checking on her welfare. Emergency responders transported the customer to a hospital and she was hospitalized for multiple days. Teets had not performed personal assistant services for the customer for more than a week prior to July 1, 2014.
This prosecution is part of the fourth wave of the Operation Home Alone initiative announced June 5, 2014, by Wigginton. 
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Illinois State Police-Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau and the Wood River Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam E. Hanna.
Suspected fraud involving health care laws or public aid programs can be reported to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or by calling (800) 447-8477
- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/news/crime/brighton-woman-pleads-guilty-to-medicaid-fraud/#sthash.uIy9jJlA.dpuf
EAST ST. LOUIS — A Brighton woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to engaging in a scheme to defraud a health care program.  
In a press release Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton said sentencing for Jessica A. Teets, 27, has been set for Feb. 9 in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis. She faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
During her plea hearing, Teets admitted she had submitted false and fraudulent bills in relation to her alleged performance of personal assistant services in the Illinois Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. Teets admitted to falsely billing the program between Dec. 7, 2012, and June 30, 2014, falsely claiming she had rendered personal assistant services to a customer. As a result, Teets improperly billed 111 hours of services and obtained $1,312 in payments for services not performed.
Teets further admitted that her customer was found July 1, 2014, in an incoherent state and partially covered in dried excrement by a friend checking on her welfare. Emergency responders transported the customer to a hospital and she was hospitalized for multiple days. Teets had not performed personal assistant services for the customer for more than a week prior to July 1, 2014.
This prosecution is part of the fourth wave of the Operation Home Alone initiative announced June 5, 2014, by Wigginton. 
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Illinois State Police-Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau and the Wood River Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam E. Hanna.
Suspected fraud involving health care laws or public aid programs can be reported to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or by calling (800) 447-8477.
- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/news/crime/brighton-woman-pleads-guilty-to-medicaid-fraud/#sthash.uIy9jJlA.dpuf

Brighton woman pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/news/crime/brighton-woman-pleads-guilty-to-medicaid-fraud/#sthash.uIy9jJlA.dpuf

Brighton woman pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud

- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/news/crime/brighton-woman-pleads-guilty-to-medicaid-fraud/#sthash.uIy9jJlA.dpuf

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