THE SEEDIER SIDE OF THE LAW...
Augustine Medical founder added to fraud indictment
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Published June 21, 2003 |
AUGI21 |
The founder and an attorney for an Eden Prairie medical products company have been indicted after the largest health care fraud sting operation ever conducted, federal authorities said Friday.
Indicted were Dr. Scott Augustine, an inventor and anesthesiologist who in 1987 founded a company that is known today as Arizant Inc. He, Arizant Inc., and a subsidiary, Augustine Medical Inc., are charged with several counts of fraud. Also indicted was James R. Benham, attorney for Augustine Medical.
Indicted last January were Augustine Medical, two other company executives and a Denver reimbursement consultant. The defendants are included in the new superseding indictment.
The defendants allegedly caused health care providers to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare on a product that isn't covered. That product, launched in 1997, is used to treat chronic wounds resulting from diabetes and other conditions. During a multi-year probe, the FBI and other federal authorities established an undercover "front" business that distributed medical devices.
Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, one count of health care fraud and three counts of mail fraud.
At the time of the original indictment, the company said it had relied on the advice of a consultant in shaping a reimbursement policy for one of its products, though the product was never approved for Medicare reimbursement.
Joy Powell
VINSON AND ELKINS HAS BEEN SUED FOR RACIAL/SEXUAL DESCRIMINATION
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