Cardiologist Gets 10 Years for Performing Unnecessary Interventions

An interventional cardiologist who implanted stents in patients who did not need them has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for healthcare fraud. Dr Mehmood Patel, formerly of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Lafayette General Hospital in Louisiana, was convicted on 51 counts of billing private and government health insurers for unnecessary medical procedures and received the maximum sentence

Testimony during the trial also revealed that Patel falsified patient symptoms in medical records, including chest pain when patients never complained of such pain, and falsified findings on medical tests. From 1999 to 2003, Patel billed Medicare and private insurance companies more than $3 million, according to the Advocate, a Baton Rouge, LA newspaper. During this time, he was the top cardiology biller in the state and personally pocketed more than $500 000.

Steve - would it be in bad taste to suggest that you always should get a second and third opinion?