Nearly A Dozen North Dakota Doctors Get Spanked By Medical Board

Prostitution and fraud but mostly drinking on the job.

So much money to be made...so why not try to make some more?

In the cases of the two doctors that lost their North Dakota licenses- "fraud" was the case that they gave them.  Both seem to completely confess to having their fingers caught deep, deep, deep in the cookie jar.

First up former doc Padmini Nagaraj...let's get the details from Psychsearch.com...

According to court records, NAGARAJ admitted that, between September 2012 and July 2014, in return for accepting illegal health care kickbacks, she referred beneficiaries who she treated at a Louisiana-based psychiatric facility for medically unnecessary home health services and further fraudulently certified that the beneficiaries were eligible to receive such services. NAGARAJ admitted that she accepted $1,500 a month from four different home health agencies, which were disguised kickbacks. NAGARAJ also admitted that she moved her patients to the different home health agencies based on whichever agency agreed to pay her a kickback. The home health agencies then submitted the fraudulent claims to Medicare and were reimbursed for the medically unnecessary home health services.

OK...$1500 a month from 4 different agencies. Six grand a month, $72,000 a year. Do it for two years and make over $140,000.  Student loans right?  We'll just have to take back that license.

How about former North Dakota doctor Daniel Canchola? Let's refer to this Texas District Court document...

 Object/Purpose of the Scheme 23. The object/purpose of the scheme was for Daniel Canchola, his coconspirators Person A and Person B and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to unlawfully enrich themselves by, among other things: (a) paying and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries, CGx tests, and the accompanying prescriptions for CGx testing and other Medicare-required documents (collectively referred to as "doctors' orders") to Laboratory A and Laboratory B, without regard for the medical necessity of the prescribed CGx tests; (b) submitting and causing the submission via interstate wire communication of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, through Laboratory A and Laboratory B, for CGx tests that were not medically necessary and not eligible for reimbursement. The false and fraudulent claims were for CGx tests that were not legitimately prescribed, not needed, not used, and induced through the payment and receipt of unlawful kickbacks and bribes.

So how much was all this fraud good for?

As the result of these false and fraudulent claims, Medicare made payments to Laboratory A and Laboratory B in at least the approximate amount of $13 million

Student loans right?  We'll just have to take back that license.

Did somebody say something about prostitution? Bismarck, this one's on our watch.

How about former doctor Bismarck North Dakota's Craig Grorud?  OK, so he's more of a Pipestone MN (population 4,000) former doctor, but he managed to go full pimp in Bismarck. Tell everybody AP News!

the owner of a Bismarck spa where authorities allege prostitution and human trafficking occurred, lost his license indefinitely, records show. He was charged with felony facilitating prostitution after a raid but pleaded guilty in March to a reduced charge of misdemeanor promoting prostitution. He was sentenced to two years of probation.

Full pimp? Well, y'know...student loans.

So there are three out of the eleven doctors and former doctors that got disciplined this year by the North Dakota State Board of Medicine.  If you'd ask executive director Sandra DePountis she would add this...

Alcohol-related incidents typically make up the bulk of the board’s sanctions, DePountis said. Doctors are given a chance to enter a program that requires them to submit to random drug and alcohol screening before more serious sanctions are sought, she said.

Doctors in the state also were disciplined for such things as incompetence, unethical behavior, substandard care, and criminal offenses, DePountis said.

Incompetence, unethical behavior, alcohol-related incidents? Doctors are just like us!

Just with lots of student loans.