Convicts include Central Ohio doc ordered to pay $71K to BWC
Four Ohioans convicted or sentenced for workers’ compensation fraud in April include a Central Ohio physician who unlawfully distributed controlled substances and overbilled the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).
On April 15, U.S. Judge Michael Wilson of the Southern District of Ohio ordered Kedar Deshpande, MD, to pay $117,122 in restitution, including $70,957 to BWC. The judge also sentenced Deshpande to three years of supervised release, 12 months of which is to be served under home detention, for felony counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances and false statements relating to health care matters.
“Our Special Investigations Department found Dr. Deshpande upcoded patient office visits by falsely representing the level of examination he performed on our injured workers so he could receive inflated reimbursement from BWC,” said BWC Interim Administrator/CEO John Logue. “Congratulations to our investigators for their work on this important case and for bringing three other fraud cases to a close last month.”
Deshpande is the former owner and operator of the now-closed Orthopaedic & Spine Center, which had three locations in Central Ohio. A multi-jurisdictional task force of state and federal authorities found Deshpande pre-signed blank prescriptions for unqualified and non-licensed staff to complete and dispense to patients in his absence. The staff would fill-in the prescriptions with Schedule II controlled substances before dispensing to patients. The staff would mostly dispense the pre-signed prescriptions when Deshpande was on vacation, arrived late to the office, or was otherwise not at the clinic.
Other April fraud cases include:
William Knox of Athens, Ohio
Knox pleaded guilty April 7 in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to one count of workers’ compensation fraud and one count of forgery, both fourth-degree felonies. Knox was sentenced to community control for five years and ordered to pay BWC restitution of $131,752.
BWC investigators found Knox inflated his weekly income from his employer of record so he could be paid at a higher weekly rate of compensation from BWC.
Tanya Houston of Shaker Heights, Ohio
A Franklin County judge ordered Houston to pay $23,489 to BWC and serve five years of probation in lieu of a one-year prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree felony count of workers’ compensation fraud on April 7. BWC discovered Houston working while collecting injured-worker benefits.
Frank Phillips of Hamilton, Ohio
Phillips pleaded guilty April 26 in Franklin County to one count of workers’ compensation fraud, a fifth-degree felony, for working while receiving BWC disability benefits. He was ordered to pay BWC $12,588 in restitution and serve five years on community control.
To report suspected workers’ compensation fraud, call 1-800-644-6292 or visit bwc.ohio.gov.
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