A Wilmington, Del.-based physician has agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle allegations he violated the False Claims Act by ordering medically unnecessary durable medical equipment for Medicare and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program patients.
Vishal Patel, MD, referred patients for more than 1,750 orthotic devices between February 2018 and April 2019, according to a Sept. 11 Justice Department news release. The department alleged that Dr. Patel had no medical relationship with these patients and the referrals were based on brief reviews of their medical charts.
Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program paid more than $400 on average for each device, according to the release. The patient files were provided to Dr. Patel by RediDoc, a telemedicine company whose owners pleaded guilty in 2022 to their roles in a $64 million fraud scheme.
The claims resolved by Dr. Patel's settlement are only allegations and there has been no determination of liability, according to the release.