Liposuction and Plastic Surgery Information - Doctors offered liposuction as reward in medical insurance scam, court told

Doctors offered liposuction as reward in medical insurance scam, court told

Friday, 18 May 2007

Three doctors accused of using liposuction and plastic surgery to bribe patients into insurance fraud have been arrested.

The California based surgeons are accused of billing insurance companies $30m for surgery which was not needed. The case involved hundreds of patients from all over the US allegedly undergoing unnecessary surgery and being rewarded with liposuction, plastic surgery or cash payments.

The three accused, Dr. Michael Chan, Dr. William Hamptom, and Dr. Mario Z. Rosenberg, are alleged to have carried out the scam at the Unity Outpatient Surgery Center in Buena Park, CA, which has since closed down. Facing 47 felony counts between them, they face up to 50 years in jail.

Prosecutors say that the three charged are part of a broader$96 million scam operated out of the Unity Center. Approximately 2,000 patients were seen at the clinic between August 2002 and April 2003, many flying in from the East Coast and bringing family members along for additional treatment. According to prosecutors, recruiters, called "cappers", found patients through word of mouth, offering rewards of between $300 and $1,000 each.

Chan, the alleged owner and medical director of the clinic, is accused of conducting fraudulent procedures on 208 patients, Rosenberg on 554 patients and Hampton on 178 patients.

"It is unfathomable that a doctor would treat patients as if they were bodies on a medical conveyor belt for a quick buck,'' Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said.

In addition to the legal charges facing the doctors, the California Medical Board is considering suspending the doctors and revoking their licences. One of the doctors, William Hampton, received a Board citation and $1,000 fine last year for failing to report a federal indictment in 2005 for a similar medical fraud scheme in Los Angeles.

Lawyers for the three men say that they dent the charges.

Attorney Kenneth Sisco, representing Dr. Chan, said Chan worked at Unity only for a short period. "He told me when he learned they were doing things inappropriately, he left the clinic," he said. "Everything I know about him is very good."

In addition to the doctors, 14 other defendants have been charged in the case. One capper, Henry Troung, has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the scam.

Tags: insurance, liposuction, plastic surgery,