Brian Hyatt, MD, former head of Arkansas' state medical board, was arrested for an alleged Medicaid fraud scheme, according to an Oct. 9 report from NBC News.
Dr. Hyatt, a psychiatrist and former medical director of the behavioral health unit at Northwest Medical Center in Springdale, Ark., faces 31 lawsuits for false imprisonment and more.
An affidavit filed with the arrest warrant alleges that Dr. Hyatt billed Medicaid for the most expensive billing codes while running the behavioral health unit even though he was rarely onsite at the facility.
Dr. Hyatt was arrested on Oct. 9 and has a bail hearing set for later this month, according to the report.
More than 40 patients have also accused Dr. Hyatt in civil lawsuits of imprisoning them against their will while running the behavioral health unit between February 2018 and May 2022.
The hospital terminated Dr. Hyatt's contract in May 2022. He also resigned from the state medical board the same month.
"Our clients were relieved to learn the news about Dr. Hyatt's arrest warrant and are thankful to Attorney General Tim Griffin and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their work in helping find justice for the many other victims of his scheme," Aaron Cash, a lawyer representing dozens of Dr. Hyatt's clients in the lawsuit, told NBC.
When Dr. Hyatt began running the unit in 2018, it grew from 29 to 77 patient beds. In an affidavit, Dr. Hyatt said that he "would see everybody and look in on everybody."
Video from 40 onsite security cameras at the facility found that over a period of 46 days, Dr. Hyatt spent 70% of his time in his office and less than 1% seeing patients.
In April, the hospital paid a $1.1 million settlement to the attorney general's office. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Dr. Hyatt's offices in May.