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Canton Doc Sentenced for 16 Months for Faking Patient Visits
A federal judge has slammed the book on a Canton orthopedic surgeon who made a living off faking patient visits.
Dr. Olarewaju James Oladipo, 60, of Canton, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 16 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release.
Oladipo was convicted by a federal jury of 10 counts of health care fraud in December 2023. The scheme, which ran from January 2016 through December 2019, involved the defendant faking patient visits and billing for more complex and expensive services.
According to court documents, Oladipo used billing codes for more complex services that were not provided. He also falsified medical records of patient visits to reflect examinations and services that were not performed. During the four-year period, Oladipo frequently billed for more than 60 patients per day and sometimes more than 100 patients per day.
The result was that many, if not most, of Oladipo’s patient visits on such days could have only lasted five minutes or less. However, Oladipo used billing codes that typically corresponded to visits of 15, 25, 30, or even 45 minutes.
The evidence presented at trial also showed that Oladipo ensured a high flow of patients to his practice by prescribing powerful, highly addictive opioids at a rate that made him one of the top prescribers of such drugs in Massachusetts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge, Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General; and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Northeast Area Field Office made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; National Insurance Crime Bureau; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan D. Panich and William B. Brady are prosecuting the case.
Oladipo’s scheme was a brazen abuse of the health care system and a slap in the face to hardworking doctors who play by the rules.
The sentence handed down by Judge Burroughs is a fitting punishment for Oladipo’s crimes.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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