The U.S. Attorney’s office in Philadelphia sued a Radnor doctor last week, alleging that the vascular and interventional radiologist collected at least $6.5 million from Medicare and other government sources for performing hundreds of medically unnecessary procedures.
It’s at least the third time state and federal government officials have alleged that James F. McGuckin or clinics he controlled subjected patients to unproven or unneeded treatments.
Washington state sanctioned him in 2015 for using an experimental procedure on multiple sclerosis patients. In 2018 McGuckin signed a multi-million-dollar False Claims Act settlement of whistleblower complaints in New York and Louisiana against a Philadelphia-based chain of clinics he controlled — and subsequently put into bankruptcy, according to state and federal officials.
The newest lawsuit, filed in U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, focuses on procedures McGuckin did on people with peripheral artery disease between 2016 and 2019. The condition is a narrowing of arteries that restricts blood flow to the arms and legs and can cause severe pain while walking, but only rarely warrants the interventions McGuckin did frequently, according to the government.
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On June 18, 2019, for example, McGuckin performed multiple procedures for leg pain while walking on a patient who was paralyzedon her left side and couldn’t walk, the 85-page complaint alleges. The procedures included inserting a stent...
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