Chiropractor Disciplined for Improper Billing Chiropractor Lies to Board and Loses Right to Practice Post 4930 Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chiropractor-disciplined-improper-billing-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-4qjdc, see the full video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4900 posts. This appeal arises from an attempt by the state of Illinois to impose discipline upon plaintiff Christopher D. Leone, D.C., due to certain improper activities performed as a licensed chiropractor in the state of Illinois. In Christopher D. Leone, D.C. v. The Department Of Financial And Professional Regulation, Division Of Professional Regulation; and Cecilia Abundis, in Her Official Capacity as Acting Director of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, No. 4-22-0753, 2024 IL App (4th) 220753-U, Court of Appeals of Illinois, Fourth District (November 6, 2024) the Court of Appeal resolved the multiple claims of the chiropractor. BACKGROUND Leone has practiced as a chiropractor since 1999 and initially practiced in the state of Washington. The matter was resolved pursuant to an informal disposition via stipulation. Leone began practicing in Illinois in 2004, and in 2010 and a consent order was issued pursuant to which Leone admitted to the allegations and was reprimanded with a $5000 fine and a requirement that he undertake 20 hours of continuing education; 10 of those hours were to focus on Medicare billing and insurance coding and another 10 on record keeping. In 2013, the United States alleged that Leone “knowingly and fraudulently” submitted Medicare claims of less than $1000 for one-on-one physical therapy services that were not provided. Following negotiation, the parties entered into a plea agreement, pursuant to which Leone pleaded guilty to the one-count information and stipulated to a factual basis for his plea. Shortly after the Medicare fraud charge was filed against Leone, the State filed a five-count complaint alleging multiple violations of the Medical Practices Act of 1987 (Act). During the litigation, Leone applied to renew his chiropractic license. One of the questions on the application asked whether he had been convicted of any criminal offense, state or federal, since July 2011; Leone answered, “No,” failing to document the Medicare fraud conviction. Attempting to explain his federal guilty plea, Leone said that he was unable to modify the language in the plea agreement, as “the time for negotiations had run out” and the plea was a “take-it-or-leave-it” proposition. Leone read the plea agreement line by line and, although he claimed it contained false information, he signed it. ALJ Report and Recommendation The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued his report and recommendation, finding that, pursuant to the guilty plea in the federal case, Leone had admitted that his patients performed physical therapy on their own without supervision. Also, Leone admitted in his plea that entries in patient records indicating that they received hands-on or one-on-one physical therapy were false. Further, the guilty plea established that Leone knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for services that he did not provide. Leone had also billed private insurers numerous times under the same code as Medicare. The conviction also established that he engaged in false billing and false entries in patient records. The ALJ recommended an indefinite suspension of Leone’s license for a minimum of two years. An expert testified that chiropractors who engaged in Medicare fraud violated several tenets of chiropractic ethics. There was a pattern of overcharging for services that were not provided, false notations in patient records to support the false charges, and the submission of false claims to insurance that went on for at least five years. Leone obtained fees by fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, and those actions fell below the professional and ethical standards required of chiropractors in Illinois. Leone’s conduct, along with his past disciplinary history, “demonstrate[d] a pattern of behavior that [was] not acceptable.” ANALYSIS It was undisputed that Leone submitted charges under billing code 97110. Leone pled guilty to submitting a false demand for payment upon the United States. In his plea, Leone admitted to billing for services that were not actually provided to his patients as claimed, “and the instruments containing the demands for payment of public money, therefore were false when they were submitted” and “were submitted to Medicare with the knowledge that he did not perform the service charged.” The guilty plea supports the conclusion that Leone knowingly and intentionally submitted claims for reimbursement for services provided under code 97110 where the services did not meet the requirements to be paid under that code. This pattern went on for approximately five years, resulting in 1324 false claims in the amount of $93,900. The Department established a violation of the Act where Leone failed to note the federal conviction on his renewal application. Discipline A review of the initial circuit court order in this matter reveals that it merely recommended that the Department consider probation as a punishment; it did not make a ruling to that effect. There was no abuse of discretion in the discipline imposed. For the reasons stated, the Court reversed the circuit court’s judgment and affirm the Director’s decision. ZALMA OPINION Leone successfully committed fraud on the United States, the state of Illinois, and the insurance industry by falsely billing services he did not provide. He pleaded guilty to one count of Federal Health Insurance fraud and then lied to the state of Illinois when he applied to renew his license. With lawyers and retained experts he delayed the sanction for years. The Court of Appeals finally resolved the multiple disputes and applied an appropriate sanction and suspension of his license. He should consider himself lucky that he was not prosecuted criminally by the state and the US Government accepted his plea. (c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc. Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos. Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe Go to X @bzalma; Go to Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk

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Insurance Fraud Requires Doctor to Lose his License Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/insurance-fraud-requires-doctor-lose-his-license-zalma-esq-cfe-l2qkc/?trackingId=8KA%2FEXdvoGfzd13NxusOMw%3D%3D Sexual Misconduct, Fraud, Bribery & Unnecessary Surgery Revokes License Post 4927 Louis Quartararo appealed from an August 22, 2022 final agency decision of the State Board of Medical Examiners (Board), revoking his license to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey. The Superior Court of New Jersey, in In The Matter Of The Suspension Or Revocation Of The License Of Louis Quartararo, M.D. License No. 25MA07137700 To Practice Medicine And Surgery In The State Of New Jersey, No. A-0425-22, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division (October 31, 2024) affirmed the revocation. The Board charged Dr. Quartararo with engaging in sexual contact with patients; negligent acts by performing surgeries with co-surgeons who lacked the requisite privileges; and acts of fraud, deception and misrepresentation by miscoding procedures on patient operative reports and listing procedures in the reports he had not performed for the purpose of ensuring insurance coverage. FACTS Quartararo was a physician and Board-certified orthopedic surgeon licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey. Approximately one week before K.D. was scheduled to meet with Board investigators, Quartararo gave K.D. $20,916, which K.D. told an investigator was “for school.” Later, Quartararo’s attorney offered her more money to retract the statement she had made to the Board about her relationship with Quartararo. THE OAL HEARING At a formal hearing, the Board’s expert, Dr. Ashraf addressed Quartararo’s treatment of patient Y.O. revealed that the surgical procedures Quartararo performed were not medically necessary. In reviewing the description of Quartararo’s procedure on Y.O.’s spine, Dr. Ashraf concluded that Quartararo’s surgery on Y.O.’s completely normal spine “is gross negligence.” Regarding the fraud claims alleging that Quartararo had failed to properly code surgical procedures that he performed on E.S., D.C., Y.O., L.V., D.E., and V.C., Dr. Ashraf testified that the “whole function” of the “operations” section on the first page of the operative report was to list the procedures that were performed during the operation and he testified that, despite “laminotomy” appearing on the first page of V.C.’s and D.C.’s reports, their post-surgery MRIs revealed that laminotomies had not been performed. THE ALJ’S DECISION The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a comprehensive seventy-nine-page decision and concluded that Quartararo had “engaged in gross malpractice, professional misconduct, failure to comply with regulations administered by the Board, and failure to be of good moral character.” On August 22, 2022, the Board filed its final decision, revoking Quartararo’s license for a minimum of seven years from the date of voluntary surrender, April 5, 2019. The Board concluded that Quartararo’s “misconduct warrants a serious penalty in excess of that recommended by [the ALJ]” and that he “flagrantly ignored, and in fact shattered professional norms when he engaged in sexual misconduct with patients Y.R. and K.D.” The Board found Quartararo’s conduct was “so egregious that the only appropriate discipline is a license revocation.” The Board also imposed an aggregate monetary sanction of $343,909.75, comprised of a civil penalty of $90,000, $61,684.75 in costs, and $192,225 in attorney’s fees. Quartararo Argued The Board determined that revocation was warranted because he preyed on two vulnerable patients employed intimidation and coercion tactics to dissuade at least one of his victims-K.D.- from testifying about the true nature of their relation, and resorted to making threats resulting in the issuance of a temporary restraining order against him. Quartararo admitted he had not performed laminotomies and that he had used the laminotomy code to ensure that he would be paid by insurance carriers. He did so rather than correctly coding the procedures he actually performed because of the risk he would otherwise not be paid. ZALMA OPINION Quartararo admitted before the ALJ that he committed fraud by billing insurers for laminotomies that he did not perform. As such he admitted to committing a federal as well as a New Jersey felony that should be presented to the US Attorney and the local District Attorney for prosecution. He lost his license because he took advantage sexually of vulnerable patients, committed gross acts of malpractice and profited from knowing insurance fraud. The people of New Jersey are now safe from his criminal and unprofessional conduct for a few more years, and in my opinion he should be prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the fraud. (c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc. Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos. Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe Go to Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg Go to X @bzalma; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk

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