A federal jury found a Kentucky cardiologist guilty on one count of insurance fraud last week for defrauding health insurance programs by performing medically unnecessary surgeries, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Anis Chalhoub, MD, was charged with performing medically unnecessary heart procedures at Saint Joseph London (Ky.) hospital and billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers for those operations between March 2007 and July 2011. During that time period, Dr. Chalhoub reportedly implanted roughly 230 pacemakers, according to the report.
The charge against Dr. Chalhoub was the result of a larger investigation into practices at Saint Joseph London. The hospital and physicians at the institution were accused in more than 300 lawsuits of performing medically unnecessary heart procedures before the hospital's parent company at the time, Saint Joseph Health Systems, entered into a $16.5 million settlement with the federal government in January 2014. Roughly 180 of the 300 lawsuits were settled confidentially, the report states.
Saint Joseph Health Systems merged with two other healthcare organization in 2012 to form Louisville-based KentuckyOne Health.
During Dr. Chalhoub's hearing, several patients testified that Dr. Chalhoub pressured them into having pacemakers implanted, according to the report. While Saint Joseph London fired him in 2013, Dr. Chalhoub's medical license remains active.
Dr. Chalhoub's sentencing is scheduled to take place in August. The maximum sentence he may receive is 10 years, the report states.