Compliance News Roundup: Patient Whistleblowers

1. New York Doctor Convicted of Multimillion-Dollar Healthcare Fraud - “A New York surgeon who practiced at hospitals in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York, was convicted last night for submitting millions of dollars in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge Diego G. Rodriguez of the FBI’s New York Division and Special Agent in Charge Scott Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) New York Regional Office made the announcement.” https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-doctor-convicted-multimillion-dollar-health-care-fraud

2. Brooklyn surgeon extracted more than $1M in Medicare billing scheme, preyed on 'elderly, demented, dying' patients - “Dr. Syed Imran Ahmed, specializing in wound care and weight loss procedures, preyed on patients, many of whom were “elderly, demented, or dying,” and turned them into cash cows to fatten his bank account, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Notopoulos said in Brooklyn Federal Court. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/brooklyn-surgeon-extracted-1m-medicare-billing-scheme-article-1.2708302

3. Deeper Than The Headlines: Patient Whistleblowers - “Most of the time whistleblowers are employees or someone internal to an organization. In the recent guilty verdict of Dr. Syed Ahmed, a surgeon in New York, it appears from court documents that a couple patients’ complaints were the trigger of the HHS-OIG and FBI investigations which led to the trial of the doctor.” Deeper Than the Headlines: Patient Whistleblowers