The complaint also accuses MultiCare of falsely and fraudulently billing Medicare Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The United States and Washington filed a false claims act complaint against MultiCare Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, alleging that MultiCare knowingly endangered patients' safety and falsely billed federal health care programs for spinal surgery procedures.
Those procedures were reportedly performed between 2019 and 2021 by former neurosurgeon Jason Dreyer.
This isn't the first time Dreyer has come under fire within the medical field. Between 2013 and 2019, Dreyer practiced at Providence St. Mary's in Walla Walla before he resigned amidst allegations that he was performing unnecessary procedures and providing false diagnoses.
The current complaint against Dreyer alleges that, following his resignation, MultiCare hired him to perform neurosurgery services at Deaconess. According to the Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington, there were concerns regarding Dreyer's surgical judgement during the hiring process.
The complaint also alleges that MultiCare ignored red flags during the hiring process and allowed Dreyer to perform the surgeries because he was a "workhorse" generating a significant amount of revenue for the company. This led MultiCare to placing Dreyer on an incentive compensation structure, meaning Dreyer would make more money by performing more complex surgeries, according to the complaint.
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