Former pain management physician John Keun Sang Lee, MD, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud associated with his Venetia, Pa.-based pain management practice, the U.S. Justice Department said Nov. 4.
From around May 2016 to October 2020, Dr. Lee knowingly submitted claims for steroid injections to Medicare and Medicaid that were neither reasonable nor necessary, according to the report.
Dr. Lee allegedly required patients to submit to steroid injections, even when patients reported that the injections were causing more pain, and would instruct his staff to withhold patients' medications if they objected, according to former patients and employees. Dr. Lee also directed staff to use templates that said patients received 80 percent relief from injections to justify the billing.
Dr. Lee will pay $264,730 in restitution to the United States Department of Health & Human Services and $153,230 to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and voluntarily surrender his medical license. He will be sentenced March 7, 2023, with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.