Indian-American doctor fined in US billing fraud case

Ajay Aggarwal has agreed to pay $2,053,515 to resolve the claims.

Representative image / Pixabay

An Indian-American doctor from Texas agreed to settle allegations of fraudulent billing to federally funded healthcare programs.

Ajay Aggarwal, 63, an anesthesiologist and pain medicine doctor practicing in Houston, Bellaire, Lake Jackson, and Van Vleck, has agreed to pay $2,053,515 to resolve claims that he submitted false bills to Medicare and the Department of Labor’s Workers’ Compensation Programs between November 2021 and March 2023.

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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Aggarwal billed the programs for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator electrodes – invasive procedures typically performed in an operating room and costing thousands of dollars per case. However, investigators found that neither Aggarwal nor his staff performed such surgeries.

Instead, patients allegedly received electro-acupuncture treatments, which involved inserting thin wires a few millimetres into the ear and taping a neurostimulator device behind the ear. These procedures, conducted in Aggarwal’s clinic, required neither surgery nor incisions.

“A doctor who uses simple medical devices on his patients, yet bills Medicare for a sophisticated spinal surgery, is bilking the American taxpayer, plain and simple,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in the statement.

“The Southern District of Texas will ensure that losses to federally funded healthcare programs from fraudulent billing, like what happened here, are recouped and that wrongdoers are held accountable,” he added.

Aggarwal operated his medical practice, The Pain Relief & Wellness Center, through his sole proprietorship and PRWCSWTX LLC.

The investigation was conducted by the Offices of Inspector General from the U.S. Postal Service, Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services, with assistance from the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura E. Collins handled the matter.

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