TRENTON - Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Monmouth County pain management doctor was indicted today on charges that he defrauded Medicare and health insurance companies of more than half a million dollars.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Frederic Feit, 57, of Manalapan, was charged with two counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count of second-degree theft by deception.

Under state law, crimes of the second degree carry a maximum punishment of 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000. The indictment will be referred to the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners for any action it deems appropriate with respect to his license to practice medicine in the state.

According to Paw, the indictment returned today by a state grand jury alleges that between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2004, Feit operated a medical practice known as Modern Pain Therapy located at 42 Center Street in Freehold. It is alleged that Feit submitted false claims to a number of health insurers and government sponsored health care insurance plans in the total amount of approximately $589,850.

It is alleged that the claims were false in that Feit billed for nerve block injections used to alleviate pain but, in reality, simply administered less invasive intramuscular injections using narcotics such as Demerol or morphine. Such conduct to defraud health insurers is sometimes referred to as “up-coding.”

In addition to the Medicare program, Aetna Insurance Company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Empire Insurance Company were allegedly falsely billed for nerve blocks when patients merely received less invasive and less expensive intramuscular injections.

It is also alleged that Feit submitted false claims to Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield and wrote phony prescriptions for the narcotic drugs morphine and Demoral in order to obtain these controlled dangerous drugs.

“Abuse of government sponsored health care plans and insurance fraud by persons who hold professional licenses are particularly disturbing crimes,” said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown. “Not only do such fraud schemes involve theft of tax dollars, they also represent a theft from a program designed to assist persons who cannot afford health insurance or health care services.”

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The investigation was conducted by the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit which investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal Medicaid fraud cases. State Investigator Patricia Yellen, Analyst James Reilly and Deputy Attorney General Mark J. Ondris were assigned to the investigation. Ondris presented the case to the grand jury

Prosecutor Brown noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web at www.NJInsuranceFraud.org. State regulations permit an award to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was established by the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is the centralized state agency that investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.