Two Ohio physicians have been indicted for performing unnecessary medical procedures -- including imaging tests -- to defraud insurers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
Dr. Ashis Rakhit and Dr. Jayati Gupta Rakhit, a married couple, were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, 11 counts of healthcare fraud, and six counts of false statements. They have both also been charged with three counts each of distribution of controlled substances.
The Rakhits are specialists in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine. They had privileges at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and operated Ohio Cardiology Assoc., both of which are in Cleveland.
According to the indictment, they ordered and performed unnecessary medical tests between 2011 and 2018, including nuclear stress tests, cardiac catheterizations, bone density scans, echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, carotid artery scans, venous ultrasound scans of the legs, and abdominal ultrasound scans. They also recorded false symptoms in patient medical records to justify unnecessary tests. The Rakhits then billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers for procedures more costly than what was actually performed, and they distributed and dispensed various opioids outside the usual course of medical practice.
The investigation into the two physicians' actions is ongoing, according to U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman.
"This couple violated the trust of their patients, the taxpayers, and the community," he said in a statement. "They performed unnecessary medical tests and billed for services they didn't actually provide in exchange for prescription medications -- all of this at a time when our region is inundated in opioid deaths and addiction."
The case is being prosecuted by Michael Collyer and Chelsea Rice, both assistant U.S. attorneys, following an investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, the Ohio Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
