Harold Persaud was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty on several counts , including medical fraud.
And we face with another example that no one can escape from the long hand of the law, not even the doctors. Westlake doctor was sent to jail for medical fraud after investigators discovered that the he was performing unnecessary and invasive surgical procedures.
The jury has reached a decision in the case of doctor Harold Persaud, a 56-year old cardiologist, from Westlake. According to First Assistant U.S Attorney Carole S. Rendon, the doctor has been found guilty as charged on 15 counts, including health care fraud, false statement and making use of monetary benefits derived from criminal activity.
Harold Persaud has received a sentence of 20 years of prison due to the fact that he was involved in many illicit medical activities. According to several testimonies, the doctor used to perform unnecessary surgical interventions, including catheterizations, blood tests, coronary bypasses and stent insertions.
Most of the intervention have been performed by the doctor in order to gain unjustified sums of money from diagnosed patients. Moreover, it would seem that the doctor has set up an office for private practice at the Health Campus Drive. Also, the doctor received many hospital privileges at several local hospitals, including St. John’s Medical, Fairview Hospital and Southwest General Hospital.
When asked about the case, the First Assistant Attorney stated that the doctor was in the habit of inflating the patient’s bills and had also falsified several cardiac health cards, in order to justify the unnecessary heart interventions.
As expected, the FBI was also alerted by the doctor’s misconduct and begun their own investigation. Stephan D. Anthony appointed Special Agent to the Cleveland Office, stated that the decision in Persaud’s case was entirely well deserved, given the fact that the doctor, on multiple occasions, violated the trust between the patient and his physician by ordering several interventions, which were deemed to be irrelevant in patient’s case.
Moreover, both Rendon and Anthony pointed out that the doctor used his medical privileges in order to line up his own pockets at the expense of his patient’s well-being.
In response to Persaud’s conviction, Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent in charge of Health and Human services released the following comment:
Dr. Persaud’s systematic use of medically unnecessary tests and procedures, falsification of patient records, and submission of false billings to health care insurers added up to a toxic mixture of fraud at the expense of patient safety and well-being, and taxpayer dollars.
Moreover, it would seem that the FBI and local health authorities are now on the lookout for more medical practitioners who choose to break the law.
Photo credits:www.torange.us
