UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
RICHARD G. CALLAHAN
United States Attorney
NEWS RELEASE
March 9, 2010
For Immediate Release
US REACHES $820,000 CIVIL SETTLEMENT
WITH PAIN MANAGEMENT DOCTOR, HIS CLINICS AND HIS BILLING COMPANY FOR FALSE CLAIMS SUBMITTED TO MEDICARE, MISSOURI MEDICAID & TRICARE
St. Louis MO: The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that the United States has reached a civil settlement with Abdul Naushad, M.D., of Town and Country, Missouri, his wife, Wajiha Naushad, and their pain management clinics doing business as Advanced Pain Centers. The civil settlement also resolves claims with Dr. Naushad’s billing company, Ultimate Practice Solutions, and its owner Azeem Meo of Carmel, Indiana.
According to the United States, Dr. Naushad and his wife own and operate six pain management clinics throughout Missouri, all doing business under the Advanced Pain Center (APC) name: Advanced Pain Center Cape, Advanced Pain Center Farmington, Advanced Pain Center Twin Cities, Advanced Pain Center St. Louis, Advanced Pain Center Eureka and Advanced Pain Center Kennett. Mr. Meo owns and operates a billing company, Ultimate Practice Solutions, whose main business is to conduct the billing operations for the APCs.
The United States alleges that Dr. Naushad, his wife, the APCs, Ultimate Practice Solutions and Mr. Meo violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare, Missouri Medicaid and TRICARE for spinal decompression services performed with a DRX-9000 machine. The claims were false in that they indicated that direct one-on-one physical therapy was performed when, in fact, no one at APC performed physical therapy and APC did not even employ a physical therapist. Physical therapy codes were falsely used to attempt to obtain payment for use of the DRX-9000 machine, which is deemed experimental, and therefore is not covered or reimbursable by Medicare, Missouri Medicaid or TRICARE.
As part of the civil settlement, the Defendants will pay the United States $820,000. Dr. Naushad and the APC entities will enter into an Integrity Agreement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, that requires Dr. Naushad to implement a compliance program and allows HHS to closely monitor the federal health care billings of Dr. Naushad and the APCs. Additionally, Mr. Meo and Ultimate Practice Solutions will agree to be excluded from participation in federal health care programs for a period of five (5) years.
The civil settlement will include the dismissal of a qui tam complaint that was filed by whistleblowers Annetta Schwader and Amanda Richards, both former employees of APC.
United States ex. rel Amanda Richards, et al. v. Abdul Naushad, M.D., et al, Case No. 4:08CV00066-CDP (E.D.Mo.). Under the False Claims Act, the whistleblowers, also known as Relators, are entitled to a share of the civil settlement and will receive $131,200.
This settlement is part of an ongoing effort by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recover funds diverted from Medicare and is the result of a joint effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the HHS Inspector General’s Office of Investigations, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and TRICARE.