Page 23 - The Indian EYE 012023

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JANUARY 20, 2023 | The Indian Eye 23

Doctor pays $1,850,000 for performing unnecessary tests and surgeries

Dr. Aarti D. Pandya and her Pandya Practice Group violated the False Claims Act

OUR BUREAU YAG laser capsulotomies, accord- As part of the settlement of the
ing to a Justice Department release. government’s claims in this case, the
New York, NY
The prosecution alleged that Pandya Practice Group agreed to
n Indian-American doctor has Pandya performed these procedures forfeit the suspension amount to the
agreed to pay approximately on patients that did not qualify for the government.
A$1,850,000 for allegedly billing procedure under accepted standards The payment suspension will also
the government for cataract surger- of medical practice and, in some cas- be lifted as part of the settlement.
ies and diagnostic tests that were not es, caused injury to her patients. To protect federal healthcare
medically required. Aarti D. Pandya Additionally, it accused Pandya programmes and beneficiaries go-
and her Pandya Practice Group vio- of falsely diagnosing patients with ing forward, Pandya and the Pandya
lated the False Claims Act by also per- glaucoma to justify unnecessary diag- Practice Group have entered into a
forming and billing for tests that were nostic testing and treatment that was detailed, multi-year Integrity Agree-
incomplete or of worthless value, and billed to Medicare. The prosecution ment and Conditional Exclusion Re-
office visits that did not provide the also said that many of the diagnostic lease (IA) with the Office of Inspec-
level of service claimed. tests that Pandya ordered were not tor General.
“Physicians who perform proce- properly performed, were performed “We must assure patients and
dures and tests without a legitimate on a broken machine, or were not taxpayers that healthcare is dictated
medical need place profits ahead of ject patients to unwarranted medical interpreted in the medical record, as by clinical needs, not fiscal greed,”
patients and subject those patients to care and waste taxpayer funds,” Bu- required by Medicare. said Keri Farley, Special Agent in
unnecessary risk,” said US Attorney chanan said. The Department of Health and Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This settle-
Ryan K Buchanan in a statement re- From January 1, 2011 to Decem- Human Services (HHS) imposed in ment should serve as a reminder that
leased on Monday. ber 31, 2016, Pandya knowingly submit- 2019 a payment suspension on the the FBI will not tolerate healthcare
“This settlement represents our ted false claims to federal healthcare Pandya Practice Group that precluded providers who engage in schemes that
office’s commitment to ensuring ac- programmes for medically unneces- it from receiving any reimbursement defraud the industry and put innocent
countability for physicians who sub- sary cataract extraction surgeries and from Medicare for Part B claims. patients at risk.”

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