Podiatrist gets 5 months, $25,000 fine - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Dr. Bic Chau Stafford, who practicede at the in Maryland Heights, as well as assortec assisted living facilitiesin St. Louis City and St. Louisz County, in April to one felony counrt of obstruction of afederal Stafford, 59, also executed a civil settlement agreemengt with the United Statew requiring her to pay the Medicare program $425,000. Stafford billed Medicare for numerous complex foot surgery procedurexs provided to 39 local Medicare beneficiariew when she was really providing thess patients with only routine foot such as toe nail prosecutors said.
When she was audited by the Medicare program in 2007, Medicare denied her claimsz for reimbursement regarding these 39 beneficiarie s and requested that she repay $6,840 for non-covereed services that had been previously paid to her. Stafforcd challenged this and as part of her effortsz to avoid payingthe overpayment, Stafford created new treatment records for thosd 39 patients in 2007, back-dating them to using fraudulent treatment information and claiminbg that she had provided these patients with podiatric surgicaol procedure, prosecutors said.