A Houston-area neurosurgeon will pay $2,095,946 to resolve allegations he submitted false claims for the placement of electro-acupuncture devices, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Dr. Rajesh Bindal’s medical practice, Texas Spine & Neurosurgery Center P.A., from March 16, 2021, to April 22, 2022, billed Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator electrodes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani said in a news release Wednesday.
The invasive procedures usually require an operating room, for which Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program pay thousands of dollars per procedure.
However, neither the 53-year-old Sugar Land doctor nor his staff performed the surgical procedures, according to the government’s allegations.
Authorities said that instead, patients allegedly received devices used for electro-acupuncture, which only involved inserting monofilament wire a few millimeters into their ears and taping the device behind their ears.
Authorities allege that sometimes a device sales representative or a physician assistant performed the placements, which were billed as surgeries. The news release states that all the device placements took place in Bindal’s clinic, not a hospital or surgical center. Also, no incisions were made on the patients and most patients said the adhesive came loose and the device fell off in a few days.
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