No ifs, ands, or buts (OK, several butts) about it...a proctologist who claimed he worked more than 24 hours a day faces fraud charges for billing Medicare $3.5 million for examinations and surgeries that were never performed, announced the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn. Dr. Boris Sachakov of Colon and Rectal Care in Brighton Beach, N.Y., also billed services as unrelated conditions when they were actually follow-up services related to an initial procedure, court documents said.
Sachakov's overstated Medicare claims would have made him the busiest proctologist in the nation, notes the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He reported 6,594 hemorrhoidectomies and other procedures between February 2009 and January 2010, while the next-busiest proctology clinic only performed 381 colo-rectal procedures, said the criminal complaint.
What's more, Sachakov said he removed 85 hemorrhoids from one patient in 20 months, totaling $60,020 in Medicare claims, reports the Daily News.
Sachakov was charged with one count of healthcare fraud and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, said the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.
"He vehemently denies the charges," defense attorney Arthur Aidala told the Daily News. "He maintains he did nothing wrong."
For more:
- read the Daily News article
- read the Brooklyn Daily Eagle article
- here's the press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn