"Medical mill" operators charged with fraud UTAH: In late January, chiropractor Todd Sinuleton and his wife. Nancy, were each charged with second-degree felony false or fraudulent insurance acts for alleged crimes that occurred between February 2002 and November 2003. in their two Utah-based Doctors Plus clinics. In 2004, the president of Chiropractic Compliance Consultants conducted a review of 248 Doctors Plus patient records at the request of the Health Care Fraud Task Force and the FBI, according to a criminal complaint filed. He found that Doctors Plus "was involved in misconduct that could result in allegations of billing for services not rendered: billing for services that misrepresented the nature of the service provided: billing for services that were substandard and/or unnecessary: as well as billing for services that misrepresent the actual service provider." the complaint states. A woman who worked as an unlicensed aide in June and July of 2005 said she was convinced Doctors Plus was a medical mill perpetuating billing fraud, according to the complaint. Another former employee said that she was instructed by Todd Singleton and another doctor to misrepresent symptoms for incoming patients and that patient records, as well as associated documents, were falsified to obtain payment from insurance carriers, the complaint says. A summary of findings of a Western Integrity Center audit of Doctors Plus revealed a 94 percent error rate and an overpayment rate of more than $154.000 in a sample size of 16 files, according to the complaint. Salt Lake Tribune Sometimes advertising doesn't pay—it just costs! FLORIDA: A DeLand chiropractor has agreed to pay $2.500 in administrative fines to the state Department of Health for publishing a misleading advertisement in an Orlando newspaper promising "miraculous" treatments. Dr. Jeremy Gordon, who has a private practice, ran an advertisement in 2002 and the beginning of 2003 advertising that he was one of a limited number of chiropractic doctors providing a treatment cream that "could possibly wake you up from your fibromyalgia nightmare." The advertisement violated rules against disseminating information that creates false or unjustified expectations of beneficial treatment or successful cures, according to the Department of Health. The case was the result of a complaint from someone who was never a patient. Dr. Gordon said. He said he stopped running the ad as soon as he was made aware that there was a problem. "It's been settled," he said. The long arm of the IRS strikes again! WISCONSIN: A former Elm Grove chiropractor has been sentenced to 41 months in prison and fined $ 10.000 on accu- sations he falsified returns while participating in a tax shelter scam. Glen J. Murphy, was sentenced in late January after being convicted in September of seven counts of filing false tax returns and three counts of willfully failing to file income tax returns. He had been accused of filing false claims for business losses totaling $925,000 and phony business expense claims totaling $113,000 from 1998 to 2001, as well as failing to file income tax returns in 2001, 2002 and 2003 despite earning a total of $475,000. Murphy's defense attorney told the judge that Murphy had been drawn into a web of erroneous ideas and conclusions promoted by an organization that used a network of bank accounts around the world to assist its clients in laundering money and tax evasion. The trial, he said "was the beginning of his realization that he had made some very serious mistakes." But the prosecution argued that Murphy demonstrated he was manipulative rather than misguided when he participated in tax shelters that concocted what the prosecutor described as "sham partnerships and fictitious expenses." Associated Press Doctors, chiropractor get trial date in drug case PENNSYLVANIA: A trial for two doctors and a chiropractor accused of illegally distributing thousands of dollars worth of OxyContin has been scheduled for April 10. Physicians Philip Wagman, William Mangino II and chiropractor Thomas Wilkins were arrested in September 2004 after indictments were handed down by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. All three face numerous drug, fraud and conspiracy charges. According to court papers, the men saw as many as 100 patients a day until law enforcement officials raided their offices in October 2003. Patients would first see Wilkins for a $25 fee and then be permitted to see Wagman or Mangino for a $40 fee. Most left with prescriptions for OxyContin and other prescription narcotics, court papers said. At the height of their partnership, the doctors allegedly bragged that they put $50.000 worth of OxvContin on the streets of their hometown each day. Wilkins and Mangino were arrested shortly after they were indicted. Authorities arrested Wagman about a month later in Ohio. Authorities there said they found more than $13,000 in cash, guns and the book Hide Your Assets and Disappear: The Step by Step Guide on How to Disappear Without a Trace on Wagman when he was arrested. According to a court order handed down in late January, there will be one trial for all three doctors. Vindy.com Pass on the information to warn other D.C. 's about events that are really happening to chiropractors. When you see a " yellow page " article in your local, regional, or national newspaper about chiropractic or a fellow chiropractor, fax, e-mail or mail it to us at TAC. 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