Cancer Patients and Medicare duped by Mississippi Doctor

Medicare fraud and abuse is once again making the news as U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan sentenced Mississippi doctor, Meera Sachdeva, today to 20 years in prison.

Founder of the Rose Cancer Center in Summit, Mississippi, Sachdeva and two of the center's employees face charges ranging from making false statements to conspiracy and health care fraud.

Monica Weeks and Brittany McCoskey, along with Dr. Sachdeva, plead guilty to charges in the case.  Weeks received house arrest for conspiracy charges while McCoskey was sentenced to 13 months in prison for making false statements.

A comparison of drugs ordered by the clinic versus drugs billed was part of the evidence in the case.  Several patients also were treated for bacterial infections due to re-use of syringes in administering the cancer fighting drugs.

Fraud has been a major point issue in rising medicare costs, and some estimates put the annual amount of taxpayer costs as high as $60 Billion.  Fraud is often a combination of unnecessary procedures and tests, where patients are part of the scam with their doctors.