The DOJ just announced that Donald Woo Lee, a former internal medicine doctor from Temecula, California, was sentenced to 93 months in prison for defrauding Medicare. In June of 2016, Lee was charged with seven counts of health care fraud and one count of adulteration of a medical device. According to court documents, Lee recruited Medicare patients and falsely represented that they needed vein ablation procedures, even when they did not display the specific symptoms. In turn, he began submitting claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary vein ablation procedures. Lee also engaged in “upcoding” by using inappropriate billing codes to receive higher reimbursements for the procedures he performed.
In October of 2019, a federal jury found Lee guilty of health care fraud and adulteration of a medical device. The evidence showed that Lee submitted claims for over $12 million and received over $4.5 million from Medicare. It was also proven that he reused contaminated “ClariVein” catheters on his patients. In addition to 93 months in prison, Lee was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay Medicare more than $4.5 million in restitution.
Lee began his medical career in 1995. He owned and operated several clinics in the Los Angeles and Riverside areas.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with white-collar criminal investigations and health care fraud investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.