A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and 10-year sentence of Mehmood Patel, MD, a Louisiana cardiologist who was found guilty of 51 counts of healthcare fraud in 2008.
Dr. Patel owned Acadiana Cardiology and had staff privileges at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and Lafayette General Medical Center, all of which are located in Lafayette, La.
In 2008, a jury convicted him on 51 of 91 counts of healthcare fraud and found that, from 2001 through 2004, Dr. Patel defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and private payors by billing for medically unnecessary procedures. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison on each count to run concurrently, along with three years of supervised release.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the sentencing after Dr. Patel challenged "virtually every aspect of the prosecution from indictment to sentence."
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Dr. Patel owned Acadiana Cardiology and had staff privileges at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and Lafayette General Medical Center, all of which are located in Lafayette, La.
In 2008, a jury convicted him on 51 of 91 counts of healthcare fraud and found that, from 2001 through 2004, Dr. Patel defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and private payors by billing for medically unnecessary procedures. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison on each count to run concurrently, along with three years of supervised release.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the sentencing after Dr. Patel challenged "virtually every aspect of the prosecution from indictment to sentence."
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