A Seattle-area physician pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a $18.6 million fraudulent genetic testing scheme.
Family medicine physician Christopher B. Bjarke, 61, of Renton, faces sentencing in January following his guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson in Washington's Eastern District. Bjarke conspired to accept kickbacks in connection with a the scheme that targeted elderly Medicare beneficiaries throughout Washington and in other states, according to a Sept. 28 Department of Justice news release.
"Health care fraud and kickback schemes are serious public health and safety problems," U.S. Attorney for Washington's Eastern District Vanessa R. Waldref said in the news release. "They divert precious public funds away from treating patients, drive up the cost of health care services and undermine trust in our health care system, often putting quality health care beyond the reach of those who need it the most."
Over-the-phone schemes very often target vulnerable elderly, Waldref said in the release.
"Telemarketing schemes that target and exploit the elderly are especially pernicious because they prey on those who are often most in need of a doctor's independent judgment that is not tainted or biased by the doctor's own personal financial interest," she said, according to the release.
The scheme in which Bjarke allegedly participated between December 2020 and September 2021 defrauded Medicare, a federal program that provides health insurance coverage for elderly and disabled Americans, the release reported. Bjarke allegedly placed orders for Medicare to cover genetic testing for elderly patients. Bjarke was not treating those patients, and he did not have a physician-patient relationship with any other them.
The conspiracy hauled in $18.6 million paid by Medicare, from which co-conspirators payed Bjarke $167,996.73, the release reported.
"Dr. Bjarke placed making money above the welfare of patients and preyed upon elderly and vulnerable members of the community," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard A. Collodi said in the news release. "This conspiracy not only victimized taxpayers via Medicare, but also impacted the patients, who underwent unnecessary medical screenings, thereby affecting their peace of mind. Medicare ultimately paid over $18 million for medically unnecessary testing, a fact that should outrage every law-abiding taxpayer."
Waldref commended "the stellar investigative work" by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General in the case, according to the release.
"We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to make our communities safer and stronger, by aggressively pursuing telemedicine kickback schemes, healthcare fraud and elder abuse," Waldref said in the release.
