HOUSTON — A neurologist will pay a hefty fine for submitting false Medicare claims, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced Monday.
Dr. Basem Hamid, of Pearland, has agreed to pay $948,359 to resolve the allegations becoming the second Houston-area doctor fined in the last few weeks.
The 52-year-old neurologist and pain medicine doctor has a practice in Houston where he treats patients for chronic pain.
“Dr. Hamid not only exploited Medicare for personal financial gain but also misled some of our most vulnerable citizens," Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services said.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Hamid falsely billed Medicare for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator electrodes between 2019 and 2022.
The invasive procedures usually require an operating room and Medicare pays thousands of dollars for each case.
However, Hamid and his staff never performed the surgeries, the feds say. Instead, patients received devices for electro-acupuncture that were inserted into their ears with the neurostimulators taped behind their ears. The procedures took place in Hamid's clinic, not a hospital or surgical center, and no incision was made.
The feds say many patients claimed the adhesive came loose and the device fell off within a few days.
“Individuals suffering from chronic pain put their faith in skilled medical professionals to help them find relief and improve their quality of life,” Hamdani said. “Our federal health care system entrusts providers with the medical care of our country’s most vulnerable, and it is important for healthcare providers to give accurate information about the services they provide for reimbursement – not misrepresent those services in an attempt to increase their bottom line.”
In November, a neurosurgeon in Sugar Land agreed to pay a multi-million-dollar fine after he was accused of submitting false Medicare claims for the same procedures.
The feds said Dr. Rajesh Bindal, 53, was slapped with a $2,095,946 fine for falsely claiming he did surgeries to implant electro-acupuncture devices. Bindal submitted the claims from Texas Spine & Neurosurgery Center P.A. to Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).
“When health care professionals submit false claims to federal health care programs like Medicare, they erode public trust and divert taxpayer-funded resources away from those who truly need them,” Meadows explained.
