Here are three fraud cases involving physicians that Becker's has reported on since Feb. 3:
1.Hudson, Ohio-based physician Deepak Raheja, MD, was sentenced to prison and must pay $2.2 million after pleading guilty to his role in a pharmaceutical kickback scheme. Between February 2011 and July 2016, Dr. Raheja and his co-conspirators increased prescriptions for Nuedexta, a drug manufactured to treat the neurological condition pseudobulbar effect, in exchange for money and other items of value.
2. Twenty-three Michigan residents, including physicians, have been charged for their alleged involvement in two schemes to defraud Medicare of more than $61.5 million by paying kickbacks and billing CMS for unnecessary medical services at physician clinics that were not provided.
3. Pankaj Merchia, MD, and Shona Pendse, MD, were charged in a superseding indictment for tax evasion and fraud against the Internal Revenue Service. Dr. Merchia and Dr. Pendse, both based in Brookline, Mass., were charged with received two counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy each to defraud the IRS.