Houston-based psychiatrist Ashok Jain, MD, has agreed to pay $3 million to settle claims that he billed Medicare for unnecessary transcranial magnetic stimulation services, according to a March 9 report from Medscape.
TMS procedures have shown to be effective in treating depression and substance abuse disorders in patients.
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges that Dr. Jain pressured patients into having TMS treatments, falsified medical records and billed Medicare for services that were not provided.
Dr. Jain and his companies — Psychiatric Solutions PC, Longview (Texas) Psychiatric Center PLLC and Longview Psychiatric Center LP — are no longer in operation.
The investigation was sparked by a whistleblower claim in 2021, filed by two Longview clinic employees. The employees claim that the falsified billing went on until Dr. Jain sold his practices in April 2022.