Brian Hyatt, MD, the former leader of Arkansas' medical board, was arrested Oct. 9 for alleged Medicare fraud. Dr. Hyatt is also facing lawsuits from more than 40 former patients accusing him of holding them against their will when he ran the locked behavioral health unit at an Arkansas hospital, according to NBC News.
The psychiatrist is accused of billing Medicaid for some of the most costly codes while running the locked behavioral health unit at Northwest Medical Center in Springdale, Ark., according to an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant and obtained by the news outlet. The affidavit was signed by a Medicaid fraud control investigator and accuses Dr. Hyatt of billing Medicaid for treatment he never provided, adding that he was rarely in the facility and "did not want patients to know his name."
More than 40 former behavioral health patients have also filed lawsuits claiming they were imprisoned against their will when Dr. Hyatt was running the locked unit between February 2018 and May 2022. His contract with the hospital was terminated in May 2022, when fraud allegations first emerged and he resigned from the state's medical board in the same month.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin set a bail hearing for Dr. Hyatt for later in October. NBC News reported that the psychiatrist's civil attorney did not respond to a request for comment, and there was no response from messages sent to his practice. In August, an attorney told Arkansas Business that Dr. Hyatt denies the allegations and "has become the target of a vicious, orchestrated attack on his service and character."
Northwest Medical Center previously told NBC News that it believes "hospital personnel complied in all responses with Arkansas law, which heavily relies on the treating physician's assessment of the patient, including in decisions related to involuntary commitment."