A Louisiana physician has been indicted for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $32.7 million by submitting claims for medically unnecessary definitive urine drug testing services.
Michael Dole, MD, 59, of Alexandria, owned and operated a pain management practice in the city, which had an in-house drug testing laboratory, according to a Sept. 18 Justice Department news release. From January 2010 to July 2023, Dr. Dole is accused of billing Medicare for testing of 22 classes of drugs in the urine specimens from nearly all of his patients, despite a lack of documentation of use or suspicion of use of the drugs by his patients.
Medicare reimbursed Dr. Dole more than $11.7 million on those claims, according to the release. He is facing five counts of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count.