4 McAllenTX. Doctors Accused of Medicaid Fraud

4 McAllen Doctors Accused of Medicaid Fraud

Reported by: Kirk Chaisson
Last Update: 6:06 pm

MCALLEN - Four McAllen doctors may be in hot water. They’re being sued by the Texas attorney general for Medicaid fraud.

A judge unsealed a federal lawsuit against Valley Heart Consultants on Monday. The Attorney General's Office is accusing the doctors of a multimillion-dollar conspiracy.

The documents allege that since at least 2004, doctors from Valley Heart Consultants have engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the Texas Medicaid program. The attorney general's office claims the fraud involves what are called nuclear stress tests performed on patients by unqualified personnel.

Court documents indicate Valley Heart billed more than $20,000 per day for the tests. The Attorney General's Office claims the doctors ordered "shocking numbers of medically unnecessary nuclear stress tests." These tests involve injecting patients with radioactive nuclear medicine.

The Attorney General's Office claims "defendants' misconduct was intended to and did allow more patients to be subjected to nuclear stress tests at the least possible costs to Valley Heart. In so doing, defendants sought profits at the expense of patient safety."

The doctors listed in the lawsuit are Carlos Mego, Subbarao Yarra, Pedro Mego and Yamil Aude. A man at Valley Heart Consultants on Wednesday said an office manager would be able to answer questions next week.

The Attorney General's Office is asking a judge to issue a court order preventing Valley Heart from performing nuclear stress tests on Medicaid patients. They're also asking to force the doctors to repay the millions of dollars they've received in Medicaid payments.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/4- ... 2cz5A.cspx