ASHEVILLE – A whistleblower suit alleging that an Asheville opioid treatment facility submitted insurance claims to the federal and state government for phantom group therapy sessions is on the ropes after an unfavorable July 27 recommendation from a federal district court magistrate.
Candler resident Lisa Wheeler filed the initial lawsuit Sep. 10, 2021, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. At the time of the filing, she was a physician assistant who worked as an independent contractor for Asheville Comprehensive Treatment Center, which provides treatments to adults struggling with painkiller or opioid addiction. At the time she filed the suit, she served as the assistant medical director for the facility. She is suing under the False Claims Act, which prohibits people from using false or fraudulent claims to receive payment from the government, according to the U.S. Civil Code. North Carolina’s law is also similar.
The North Carolina Department of Justice and the federal government declined to take on the lawsuit June 2, 2022, leaving Wheeler and her attorneys to pursue it on their own. Wheeler’s suit was unsealed June 7, 2022. Wheeler amended her complaint Aug. 1, 2022.
The Citizen Times reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for comment. The North Carolina Department of Justice declined to comment.
Wheeler, who no longer works with the facility, alleges in her 118-page amended complaint that the Asheville Comprehensive Treatment...
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