A doctor from Kansas pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday and admitted ordering millions of dollars' worth of unnecessary and expensive genetic tests and orthotic braces for thousands of patients as part of a telemedicine fraud scheme.
Dr. Gautam Jayaswal, 64, of Overland Park, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
Dr. Jayaswal has been a licensed medical doctor since 1986, working primarily as an emergency room physician. From 2017 to 2021, he contracted with multiple companies to work as a telemedicine doctor, including Barton & Associates, DialCare Co, Doctegrity, Doctorology LLC, USA Management Resources LLC, Rossiter and Cummaro Enterprises LLC, RAS/Sunshine Medical, Fix Ur Rx, Rocky Mountain Health, LSW Management Solutions, Physician Acquisition Pas and MP Network, his plea agreement says.
During that period, Dr. Jayaswal fraudulently ordered one or more orthotic braces for 1,433 patients. The companies used those fraudulent orders to defraud Medicare out of approximately $1.36 million. Between June 2018 and September 2021, Dr. Jayaswal signed orders for medically unnecessary genetic tests. Medicare Part B paid about $14.7 million for the 2,061 patients for whom Dr. Jayaswal was listed as the ordering physician.
Dr. Jayaswal faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both. He will also be ordered to repay the money. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
