A Michigan physician was sentenced to five years in prison and must pay more than $1.9 million for a $5 million fraud scheme involving unnecessary sinus surgeries.
From February 2015 to May 2017 at Bronson Battle Creek (Mich.) Hospital, Daniel Castro, MD, performed the unnecessary surgeries, which frequently involved false medical records about his patients' symptoms, the Justice Department said in a May 29 release.
He also billed for excisions of single lymph nodes, submandibular glands and other glands of the neck as if he performed modified radical or selective neck dissections.
The $1.9 million in restitution will go to the victims of his scheme, including Medicare and Medicaid programs, numerous private payers, Bronson Hospital and former patients.