A former Sacramento dentist who submitted
false claims and performed unnecessary dental procedures was sentenced
Thursday in federal court to prison time.
David M. Lewis,
62, of Sacramento, targeted employees of United Parcel Service, whose
dental plan provided 100 percent coverage without annual limits.
“This
defendant went well beyond the lies one normally finds at the root of a
fraud scheme,” said acting U.S. attorney Phillip Talbert, in a news
release. “He not only plundered funds meant to provide essential
services, he inflicted pain and suffering on his patients through the
performance of unnecessary medical procedures, all in the name of
additional profit.”
According
to court documents, Lewis offered patients cash for receiving
treatments and for recruiting other UPS employees to get treatment.
Between
2008 and 2009, Lewis had employees file claims to Delta Health Systems
for work that was not performed. In other cases, prosecutors say, the
dentist performed unnecessary work. In some cases, he installed
temporary fillings, which he then had assistants X-ray, so he could show
what he described as tooth decay, which he would then fix with
restorative work.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Dental Board of California. Assistant U.S. attorney Todd Pickles prosecuted.
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