November 10, 2011 (Baltimore, Maryland) — Retired interventional cardiologist Dr John R McLean, found guilty of healthcare fraud in an "unnecessary stenting" case this past summer, has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail.
The US Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J Rosenstein and federal investigators announced the sentence today, according to the Delmarva Daily News. McLean, 59, was sentenced by US District Judge William D Quarles Jr to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. McLean has also been "ordered to pay $579 070 in restitution to Medicare and other health insurance programs and to forfeit $579 070 as proceeds of the crime," the paper notes.
In late July, a federal jury convicted McLean of six charges of healthcare fraud relating to insurance claims he'd filed for stents deemed to have been placed unnecessarily, as well as for ordering unnecessary tests and making false entries in patient medical records. As previously reported by heartwire , McLean had been facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud and five years in prison on each of five counts of making false statements.
McLean had previously resigned his hospital privileges at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD in 2007, citing visual impairment as the reason. Hospital administrators, however, acting on an anonymous tip, had conducted internal and external reviews leading them to conclude that McLean had implanted as many as 25 stents in patients who did not meet the clinical criteria for PCI.
During the two-week trial that ended in his conviction, evidence brought forward suggested that McLean had performed cardiac catheterizations and implanted unnecessary cardiac stents in more than 100 patients. "He then falsely recorded in the patients' medical records the existence or extent of coronary artery blockage, known as lesions, observed during the procedures in order to justify the stent and the submission of claims to healthcare benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid," a statement from the Office of the Inspector general had concluded.
McLean's conviction comes during the TCT meeting, where a packed plenary session yesterday heard from a range of speakers warning them that if they did not start doing a better job of policing their own procedure usage, legislators would step in to do it for them.
The US Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J Rosenstein and federal investigators announced the sentence today, according to the Delmarva Daily News. McLean, 59, was sentenced by US District Judge William D Quarles Jr to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. McLean has also been "ordered to pay $579 070 in restitution to Medicare and other health insurance programs and to forfeit $579 070 as proceeds of the crime," the paper notes.
In late July, a federal jury convicted McLean of six charges of healthcare fraud relating to insurance claims he'd filed for stents deemed to have been placed unnecessarily, as well as for ordering unnecessary tests and making false entries in patient medical records. As previously reported by heartwire , McLean had been facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud and five years in prison on each of five counts of making false statements.
McLean had previously resigned his hospital privileges at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD in 2007, citing visual impairment as the reason. Hospital administrators, however, acting on an anonymous tip, had conducted internal and external reviews leading them to conclude that McLean had implanted as many as 25 stents in patients who did not meet the clinical criteria for PCI.
During the two-week trial that ended in his conviction, evidence brought forward suggested that McLean had performed cardiac catheterizations and implanted unnecessary cardiac stents in more than 100 patients. "He then falsely recorded in the patients' medical records the existence or extent of coronary artery blockage, known as lesions, observed during the procedures in order to justify the stent and the submission of claims to healthcare benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid," a statement from the Office of the Inspector general had concluded.
McLean's conviction comes during the TCT meeting, where a packed plenary session yesterday heard from a range of speakers warning them that if they did not start doing a better job of policing their own procedure usage, legislators would step in to do it for them.
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