Ophthalmologist Craig Morgan, MD, and Eye Consultants of Huntington (W.Va) have paid 907,075 to resolve allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 6 news release.
From January 13, 2013 through April 12, 2019, Dr. Morgan administered vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor injections into the eyes of patients to treat purported wet age-related macular degeneration or other ophthalmological conditions. Prosecutors said these injections were not medically necessary because the patients did not have treatable Wet-AMD or other conditions that would have warranted the invasive treatment.
Dr. Morgan was identified as one of the top outliers for billing the Medicare program across all medical specialists in West Virginia, far exceeding the average of Medicare claims submitted by his peers, according to prosecutors. Most payments he received from Medicare were for injections for purported treatment of Wet-AMD.