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.
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