The Department of Justice said Tuesday that it charged a Texas doctor for his role in an $89 million Healthcare fraud scheme.
The indictment says that Jason Finkelstein, 53, was charged with Healthcarefraud and conspiracy over what prosecutors allege was a yearslong scheme that exploited college student-athletesâ worries about suffering sudden cardiac arrest while competing, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Finkelstein allegedly billed insurers for cardiovascular screening tests that were not medically necessary for athletes and then signed off on the results as normal without ever reviewing them.
âThe doctorâs alleged conduct, which ignored a textbook diagnosis of preventable cardiac death, is heinous,â Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement, also claiming that medical care fraud âdoesnât just steal money, it can steal lives,â according to the AP.
âThis defendant allegedly used marketing tactics designed to prey on fears that student athletes could die from sudden cardiac arrest,â Assistant Attorney General from the National Fraud Enforcement Division Colin M. McDonald told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a Wednesday statement. âHe then allegedly rubber-stamped test results as normal without reviewing them.â
âAs a result, the student was cleared to play and suffered sudden cardiac arrest and died on the basketball court just weeks later,â McDonald continued. âThat is why we cannot and will not tolerate fraud in health care.â
Some athletes with no underlying heart problems who were worried about being cleared to compete were required to take tests they did not actually need, the AP reported, citing the indictment. One patient whose test results were falsely approved as being normal later died after his major heart issues were undetected, according to the outlet.
The Department announced during a Tuesday press conference that 455 individuals from 45 states have been charged for their alleged involvement in Healthcare fraud schemes totaling over $6.5 billion in false claims, WTOV reported.
âThis is just the beginning,â Acting U.S. District Attorney Todd Blanche said Tuesday, according to WTOV.
McDonald said in a statement that Tuesdayâs ârecordâ Healthcare fraud charges and arrests âmakes clear that there is no case to big, no scheme to complex, and no hiding place too remote for our fraud fighting team.â
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has been moving to root out Healthcare fraud across the nation in recent months. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are âunleashing an unrelenting, full-scale assault on the fraudsters, scammers, and corrupt operators who have looted billions from American taxpayers,â the White House claimed in a May 26 news release.
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