Indian-American doctor convicted in $5.4-million medicare scam

A federal jury in the US has convicted an Indian-American doctor for submitting more than $5.4 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare. These claims were for orthotic braces ordered through a telemarketing scheme. In one instance, the Indian-origin doctor prescribed a knee brace to a person with amputated legs.

Adarsh Gupta, an Indian-American doctor from Sewell, New Jersey, has been convicted of healthcare fraud and false statements relating to healthcare matters.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Gupta signed thousands of unnecessary prescriptions for orthotic braces for over 2,900 Medicare beneficiaries.

These beneficiaries were contacted by telemarketers who convinced them to accept the braces.

After brief phone conversations with the beneficiaries, Gupta prescribed the braces without properly diagnosing their medical needs.

For instance, in one case, Gupta prescribed a back, shoulder, wrist, and knee brace to an undercover agent after speaking with them for just over a minute.

In another instance, he prescribed a knee brace to a person with amputated legs.

The evidence showed that Gupta could not have determined if the braces were necessary based on these short phone calls.

However, he signed prescriptions falsely claiming medical necessity and that he had a care plan for the beneficiaries.

Brace supply companies then used these prescriptions to bill Medicare over $5.4 million fraudulently.

Gupta was convicted of three counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of false statements relating to healthcare matters.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each healthcare fraud charge and five years for each false statement charge.

Sentencing in Gupta’s case is scheduled for October 8.