This report originally appeared in the April 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

Several medical professionals and others have been charged with operating three medical clinics in Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, that were supposed to have been providing drug treatments to Medicare-covered HIV/AIDS patients, but allegedly billed Medicare for unnecessary treatments or treatments never provided, defrauding the Medicare system out of $8.5 million.

According to an FBI press release, the defendants perpetuated the scheme by recruiting HIV-positive Medicare-eligible patients, and then paying the patients for their Medicare beneficiary numbers. The defendants then used the numbers to submit claims to Medicare for reimbursement for drugs that had either never been purchased, never been administered, or were medically unnecessary. From January 2007 to April 2009, the defendants billed Medicare for over ten times the number of units of prescription drugs as actually purchased. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara stated in the press release: "The doctors and managers of these alleged fraud mills used their professional positions to cheat the Medicare system out of $8.5 million, taking away millions meant for elderly Americans in need of medical care."

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