It’s an age-old question. If you had to choose between more time and more money, what would it be? Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California Los Angeles ran several studies asking this basic question. What would you rather have? More time or more money? Around 64 percent surveyed answered “more money.” But there was something else. The people who said they’d prefer more time were generally happier. One can’t help but wonder if Dr. William Lawrence Siefert and Dr. Timothy Ehn are still happy with their choices of “more money.” Now that they are going to serve time in prison for Medicaid fraud?
Ehn, a chiropractor, was the owner of Northern Kentucky Center for Pain Relief. Siefert, a medical doctor, was employed by the center. Siefert and Ehn engaged in a scheme to bill Medicaid for medically unnecessary urinalysis testing of their patients. Lucrative to say the least. So lucrative, Ehn and Siefert continued in their scheme even as their expensive drug testing machine malfunctioned because it was not properly maintained. The machine was never fixed, and it began to produce results that falsely suggested patients were testing positive for street drugs like ecstasy or heroin. Results that supported claims that were reimbursed by the U.S. taxpayer.
Yet, throughout their scheme, Siefert and Ehn never stopped providing relief for pain. They offered “easy access” to opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, to drug-seeking patients who shouldn’t have received such medications. Then, they submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims for medically unnecessary urine drug testing related to those patients. Insurance proceeds from urine drug testing ended up comprising three-quarters of the center’s revenue. Ehn and Siefert’s supposed opioid prescribing conspiracy was a contributing factor in the opioid overdose deaths of at least six former clinic patients.
Great job by the Drug Enforcement Agency with this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Two doctors, including NKY chiropractor, sentenced for $4M fraud involving urine tests” published by WCPO News on April 15, 2024.
Two doctors, including a Northern Kentucky chiropractor, have been sentenced to prison time and hefty restitution amounts after they de-frauded Medicaid, Medicare and insurance companies out of over $4 million.
According to Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, the two men performed unnecessary urine drug tests on patients at their Kentucky pain clinic and billed Medicaid, Medicare and commercial insurance companies for the costs.
