United States Reaches $291,288 Civil Settlement with Dr. Sherry Ma and Aima Neurology, LLC Related to Botox® and Myobloc® Injections

St. Louis, Missouri: Acting United States Attorney Carrie Costantin announced today that the United States, Sherry X. Ma, M.D., of Ladue, Missouri, and AIMA Neurology, LLC, reached a civil settlement that will resolve the United States= claims against Dr. Ma and AIMA Neurology under the False Claims Act for false Medicare billings related to Dr. Ma’s Botox® and Myobloc® injections.

According to the United States’ allegations, Dr. Ma received vials of Botox® and Myobloc® at no charge that were supposed to be used for specific patients with private health insurance. After using a portion of the Botox® or Myobloc® on the specific patients, instead of discarding the remainder of the medications contained within vials labeled as single-dose vials, Dr. Ma would keep and store the leftover Botox® and Myobloc® at AIMA Neurology, where she was the only physician. Subsequently, Dr. Ma used the remaining portion of the vials of Botox® and Myobloc® on Medicare patients but submitted claims for payment to Medicare as if she had purchased new vials. According to the United States’ allegations, Dr. Ma and AIMA Neurology’s medical records for certain Medicare patients were false in that they contained incorrect lot numbers of the Botox® and Myobloc® vials used in treatment with Medicare patients. Federal law generally prohibits health care providers from seeking reimbursement from Medicare for items that they obtained at no cost.

As part of the settlement, Dr. Ma and AIMA Neurology will repay the United States $291,288.06.

This civil settlement is part of ongoing efforts by the Department of Justice and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recover funds diverted from the Medicare Trust Account and is the result of a joint effort between the U.S. Attorney=s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and the HHS Inspector General=s Office of Investigations.