A mobile MRI provider in Edina, MN, has been accused of fraud for allegedly conspiring with 46 chiropractors by conducting unnecessary exams and providing kickbacks to practitioners.
A $1.9 million federal lawsuit was filed on October 14 in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota by Illinois Farmers Insurance, 21st Century Insurance, and Bristol West Casualty Insurance. It alleges that Mobile Diagnostic Imaging (MDI) exploited the state's no-fault insurance system by creating a network of medical providers who paid or received illegal kickbacks for MRI scan referrals for patients who had been in car accidents, according to the complaint.
From January to November 2011, MDI and its owner Michael Appleman allegedly paid $221,800 in kickbacks to a roster of chiropractors, in amounts between $700 and $15,400, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial, according to the filing.
