Two physicians, along with two other individuals, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of federal violations connected to a university athletics department billing scheme.
Mouzon Bass and Lance Wilson allegedly used their company Vivature to submit false claims to private insurance carriers. The claims purported that physicians — including Kyle Carter, MD, who was indicted separately last year, and Robert Scott, DO — were providing medical treatment to student-athletes across the U.S., according to a Jan. 31 news release from the Justice Department.
In reality, the physicians were not providing medical care to the student-athletes, the indictment alleges. The services were provided by athletic trainers in the universities' athletic departments, who were mostly excluded from reimbursement policies by the insurance companies.
Vivature allegedly submitted thousands of false claims from 2014 to 2023, naming Dr. Carter, Dr. Scott and other physicians as the providers. In exchange for using Dr. Carter's and Dr. Scott's NPI numbers in the claims, Vivature allegedly made regular payments to the physicians.
A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt, the release said.