A Kansas City-area pediatrician pleaded guilty for his part in a Medicare fraud scheme that involved more than 1,000 patients.
Frederick Scott Dattel, 57, of Leawood, Kan., waived his right for grand jury to hear the case and pleaded guilty before a federal judge in Kansas City Nov. 10, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Dattel pleaded guilty to making a false statement related to a health care matter.
"A physician abused his position of trust to cause fraudulent claims to be filed for more than 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries," U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in the news release. "This theft of public funds was part of a larger nationwide scheme that includes prosecutions in other districts where additional perpetrators are being held accountable for their criminal actions."
Dattel, owner and operator of Kansas City Pediatrics, is alleged to have committed Medicare fraud between August 2017 and February 2018 while he was working for the commercial telemedicine company RediDoc, the release reported. Dattel issued orders or prescriptions for 1,075 beneficiaries for items that included durable medical equipment and orthotics, "without seeing, speaking to or otherwise communicating or examining the beneficiaries."
It also didn't matter "whether the beneficiaries actually needed the durable medical equipment and compounds." The orders and prescriptions were used for false and fraudulent Medicare claims, the news release said.
"RediDoc's owners unlawfully profited by paying kickbacks and bribes to doctors so those doctors would sign high volumes of expensive prescriptions and durable medical equipment orders that were not medically necessary," the news release said.
The scheme was part of a "national health care fraud conspiracy" operated by RediDoc owners Stephen Luke and David Laughlin, who pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the news release said.
Dattel violated his obligation to not commit healthcare fraud, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller said in the news release. Dattel faces a sentence of up to five years in federal prison, the release reported. There is no parole in the federal system.
"To help protect the federal health care system, doctors participating in the Medicare program are obligated to provide medically appropriate services and prescriptions to their patients and bill the program properly," Muller said in the release. "Our agency and law enforcement partners are dedicated to identifying and pursuing providers who disregard these vital responsibilities in exchange for personal enrichment."
