An Ohio cardiologist is expected to spend 20 years of his life in a federal prison after he was found guilty of money laundering, falsifying documents, and fraud in September.
Dr Harry Persaud, 56, originally from Guyana, was found to have requested payments from private insurance companies and Medicare for heart-related procedures that were unnecessary and risky in the first place.
According to the investigation, Dr Persaud, who worked in Westlake, Ohio, after getting his education in the UK, went to see patients from 2006 to 2012. He encouraged these patients, who were mostly old between 40 and 90 years old, to proceed with heart tests and injected them with a radioactive mineral so he could recommend they undergo a surgery.
In certain instances, he added stent and performed a bypass surgery even if the patients didn't have a heart problem to begin with. Despite the advances in heart surgery, the procedure itself still has several risks and complications including chest wound infection, stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.
He also tampered the medical records of his patients to reflect that the need for further procedures like catheterization, in which an incision is made on an artery found in either the groin or arm to insert a catheter. In some patient reports, he incorrectly stated that they had multiple blockages in the blood vessels.
Overall, the federal investigators determined that he earned $7 million from his alleged criminal activities. They also went on to say that the doctor had violated the "sacred trust" given by the patients.
On his part, Dr Persaud stressed that although he might have committed billing errors, he didn't perform any unnecessary procedure. He also shared that he's going to ask for an appeal for his sentence.
Nevertheless, he might not be able to escape the possible multiple lawsuits from patients and their families. The investigators were also mulling charges to recoup the payments made to him.
