On Friday June 4th, a grand jury indicted Dr. Dipak Desai on 28 criminal counts – from racketeering to insurance fraud – prompting those who follow stories of Southern California medical insurance fraud to vigorous debate the potential fallout.
Dr. Desai – who was charged along with two of his former employees, Ronald Lakeman and Keith Mathahs – allegedly accidently infected over 100 patients with Hepatitis C at his Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada from March 2004 through January 2008. Patients at his center allegedly got infected because nurses reused syringes. An astounding 50,000 patients in total might have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis B in addition to Hepatitis C.
Felony counts against Desai include criminal neglect of patients, medical insurance fraud, obtaining money under false pretences, and racketeering. Desai is in the midst of a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and representatives for plaintiffs have whalloped the embattled physician (former physician actually, since his license was stripped earlier this year) with a slate of malpractice suits. Attorneys said that the insurance coverage “will be grossly and totally inadequate to satisfy the damage claims of plaintiffs.”
Two companies linked with Desai’s clinic – Baxter Healthcare Corp and TEVA Parenteral Medicines – may have to play a collective judgment worth $500 million in damages – the most ever awarded in Nevada.
If you or a loved one faces charges of Southern California medical insurance fraud or any other kind of white collar crime, chances are that others will leap to judgment without knowing all the facts. You could quickly find yourself without allies, recourse, or knowledge about what to do. It can be very scary to face these kinds of serious charges.
Southern California healthcare fraud is subject to punishment under Insurance Code Section 1871.4 as well as Penal Code Section 550. You might also face charges under Labor Code Section 3700 and Penal Code Section 118. Southern California healthcare fraud charges can be diverse and can include accusations of doing unnecessary medical procedures, falsifying or changing medical records, billing insurers for services not provided, prescribing medications that aren’t needed, and urging patients to undergo tests that are not unnecessary.
The sophisticated nature of Southern California white collar criminal charges almost necessitates that you retain a top caliber criminal defense attorney to protect you and your rights. But whom can you trust?
Consider talking to Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. As a former Los Angeles prosecutor and a Harvard Law School trained trial lawyer with a 98% success rate jury trials, Attorney Kraut can answer your questions and work with you to develop a thorough and strategically sound defense against Los Angeles healthcare insurance fraud charges.