Pain management specialist Subramaniam Khanthan, MD, of Jersey City-based Hudson Medical is charged with 16 counts of healthcare claims fraud for billing insurance for treatments that were unnecessary or never performed, NJ.com reports.
Here are four insights.
1. Along with 16 counts of second-degree healthcare claims fraud, Dr. Khanthan is charged with one count of theft by deception and one count of illegal use of runners. He faces five to 10 years in prison.
2. In a joint investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor and the Jersey City Police Department Special Investigations Unit, two undercover officers posed as patients who were referred to Dr. Khanthan's practice by an illegal runner. They recorded the visits.
3. Dr. Khanthan allegedly instructed the officers to receive treatment even though they said they weren't experiencing pain, and later billed an insurance company for those treatments and ones he never administered.
4. Authorities said several of the 16 recordings showed Dr. Khanthan making payments to the runner for patient referrals.