Two Houston physicians were sentenced to prison Jan. 29 for separate schemes that led to about $29 million in fraudulent claims being billed to Medicare, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The physicians were sentenced in the Southern District of Texas. John Ramirez, MD, and two co-defendants were accused of defrauding Medicare from December 2011 to August 2015. Dr. Ramirez and the co-defendants were found guilty in September 2018 for billing Medicare for unnecessary home-health services. A federal judge sentenced Dr. Ramirez to 25 years in prison and ordered him to pay $26.7 million in restitution.
The second physician, Anh Do, MD, was sentenced to three years in prison after Dr. Do pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in August 2018. A judge ordered Dr. Do to pay $1.8 million in restitution and forfeit $274,213, according to the Houston Chronicle.