FRANKFORT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Two doctors have been sentenced for their roles in a scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies of over $4 million for medically unnecessary urine drug tests.
The Kentucky Office of Attorney General announced that the clinic’s medical director, 70-year-old Dr. William Lawrence Siefert, from Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and ordered to pay $1,968,763.10 in restitution.
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The clinic owner, 51-year-old Dr. Timothy Ehn, from Union, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $3,773,569.30 in restitution.
“The defendants enriched themselves through a fraudulent urine drug testing scheme that cost Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies over $4 million,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is committed to protecting American taxpayers from doctors who abuse their positions to steal public money by billing for unnecessary medical procedures.”
“Through zealous collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we’re holding these defendants accountable,” said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman. “I’m especially proud of Detective Supervisor Mike McGuffey and the entire Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse team for investigating these crimes and delivering justice.”
On March 23, 2023, a federal jury convicted Siefert of health care fraud and Ehn of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
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The Kentucky Office of Attorney General said court documents and evidence at the trial said Ehn and Siefert schemed for clinic staff to bill for urine drug tests that weren’t medically necessary but lucrative.
The office said Ehn and Siefert continued the scheme after the expensive drug testing machine malfunctioned because it was not properly maintained, making the machine produce results that falsely suggested patients were testing positive for street drugs like ecstasy or heroin.
The proceeds from urine drug testing made up three-quarters of the clinic’s revenue.
“These sentences are a testament to the fact that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will not stand by while licensed physicians choose to defraud federally-funded health insurance programs in order to line their own pockets,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Stansbury of the FBI Louisville Field Office. “As a result of a collaborative effort across all levels of government, patients will no longer have to endure unnecessary medical tests and the taxpayer’s money will not be wasted.”
“Together with our federal, state, and local partners, DEA remains steadfast in our commitment to identify and root out health care professionals who fail to live up to their responsibilities and commitments,” said Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Adminisration (DEA) Detroit Field Division. “These sentences should serve as a warning there is zero tolerance for fraud, no matter what form it takes.”
Latest central Kentucky weather forecast “Health care providers who cause the submission of Medicare and Medicaid claims for medically unnecessary services pose a significant risk to these programs and the patients who rely on them,” said Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “These sentences exemplify how HHS-OIG works diligently with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable individuals who, to satisfy their own greed, exploit federal health care programs.”
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