ST. GEORGE — A Utah podiatrist and two nurses who worked for him have been indicted by a federal grand jury, accusing them of submitting $29 million in fraudulent Medicare claims.

Ryan Scott Ellsworth, 47, of Highland; Emily Kelly, 45, of Washington, Washington County; and Drake Dell Broadbent, 55, of Santa Clara, "allegedly defrauded the federal healthcare benefit program, Medicare, to fraudulently obtain money for their own financial benefit," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah. The three are facing various charges, including healthcare fraud, wire fraud and making false statements relating to healthcare matters.

The alleged fraud occurred between July 2021 and December 2025. Ellsworth owned and operated several clinics in St. George, Payson, Provo, Sandy and West Valley City under the name Summit Foot and Ankle as well as Amble Medical in Highland.

"Ellsworth, Kelly, and Broadbent knew Medicare billing of a skin substitute was permissible only if medically necessary and if basic wound care had been administered to a wound for the previous 30 days. However, the defendants submitted false claims to Medicare for providing skin substitutes to patients who did not have qualifying wounds and where continued treatment of skin substitutes was medically unnecessary," federal prosecutors said.

"As a result, Ellsworth billed $44 million in claims to Medicare for skin substitutes, many of which were unnecessary, and Medicare paid Summit over $19 million on these...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipgFBVV95cUxOanF5LVFKMWU3UFlSeW54QmJl...