David Podell, Medicare Fraud, New Jersey 2024
A New Jersey chiropractor has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations of unnecessary knee injections and knee braces, as well as related kickbacks, the Justice Department announced today.
David Podell, a New Jersey chiropractor, has agreed to pay the United States $2 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that he knowingly billed Medicare for medically-unnecessary viscosupplementation injections and knee braces and that he received illegal kickbacks.
The settlement follows the government’s earlier settlement with seven former Osteo Relief Institutes (ORIs) and their owners, who agreed to pay the United States collectively more than $7.1 million to resolve their False Claims Act liability.
“Billing for services or items that are medically unnecessary or tainted by illegal kickbacks threatens the integrity of federal healthcare programs,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.
Podell previously owned and managed a clinic in Edgewater, New Jersey that performed viscosupplementation, among other procedures.
The government alleged that Podell caused his clinic and other ORIs to bill Medicare for viscosupplementation injections for patients who did not need them, to use multiple brands of viscosupplements successively on patients without clinical support, and to use discounted viscosupplements reimported from foreign countries.
“When medical professionals seek to increase their revenue by improperly exploiting public healthcare programs, beneficiaries suffer and taxpayer dollars are wasted,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald for the District of Minnesota.
The allegations resolved by today’s settlement were identified by a government investigation that arose out of a critical analysis of Medicare claims data.
The matter was investigated by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General – Chicago Region.
Podell, a New Jersey chiropractor, is the defendant/respondent in this case.
The exact criminal charges are that Podell knowingly billed Medicare for medically-unnecessary viscosupplementation injections and knee braces and that he received illegal kickbacks.
The exact date of the crime is not specified, but it is believed to have occurred prior to 2024.
The sentence or outcome is that Podell has agreed to pay the United States $2 million to resolve the allegations.
The dollar amounts involved are $2 million and $7.1 million.
Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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