Yahoo Finance Heart Doctor Lies To Patients In \$19m Fraud
Thousands of heart patients in New York have been subjected to unnecessary tests and treatment by a prominent doctor who then claimed millions in bogus insurance bills.
Dr Jose Katz, who had offices on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and in New Jersey, has admitted taking part in the \$19m (£12.4m) healthcare fraud - the largest ever by a practitioner in either state, authorities said.
He pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old was the founder and chief executive of Cardio-Med Services and Comprehensive Healthcare & Medical Services.
He falsely diagnosed around 80% of his Medicare and Medicaid patients with coronary artery disease and debilitating and inoperable angina.
Katz then treated them, unnecessarily, with pneumatic cuffs to compress blood vessels in the lower limbs and increase blood flow to the heart.
He even prescribed the treatment in cases where it increased the risk of injury or death, prosecutors said.
From 2005 through 2012, Medicare and Medicaid paid the doctor more than \$15.6m (£10.1m) for those mostly fraudulent treatments alone.
Overall he billed the government-run health insurance schemes more than \$70m (£45.6m) in that seven-year period.
"After years of prominence in his field, Jose Katz will now be remembered for his record-setting fraud," US Attorney Paul Fishman said.
Katz, who is free on bail, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 23. The healthcare fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
He is also accused of ordering an unlicensed co-conspirator to treat patients, and one count of social security fraud relating to his wife.
Prosecutors said he also faces fines and will be ordered to pay restitution.
