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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Enforcement Watch:

Operation Wheeler Dealer Rolls Over Houston Doc

Published on Fri Oct 15, 2004

Providers should make sure their paperwork can stand up to increased scrutiny.

The Texas fraud indictments over power wheelchair fraud just keep coming, with the latest scam allegedly netting the perpetrators $13 million.

It's a scenario that's become all too familiar: Houston physician Callie Hall Herpin and office manager Etta Mae Williams accepted $200 per patient for false paperwork "authorizing motorized wheelchairs," Texas U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby charges.

Most beneficiaries Herpin certified didn't qualify for motorized wheelchairs, and many were never even in Herpin's office, according to an indictment unsealed Oct. 1. False medical records were created to make it appear Herpin had seen the patients, the feds allege.

The indictment seeks a $12.9 million forfeiture from the scam's proceeds and criminal fraud charges against Herpin and Williams.

The women and six Houston-area pharmacists also were indicted on numerous charges related to illegal distribution of the prescription drugs hydrocodone and promethazine with codeine.

The Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Office of Inspector General, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit jointly investigated the case.

Police arrested Herpin, Williams and other co-defendants Sept. 29, reports The Houston Chronicle. Their arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 7.
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