BLOOMINGTON —
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Kamal Tiwari, age 60, of Bloomington, was sentenced this morning to 42 months (3 years, 6 months) in federal prison by District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,299,866.54. This follows Tiwari’s admission of guilt to charges of health care fraud and unlawful drug distribution in March of this year.
“Today’s sentencing holds accountable someone who betrayed both his profession and the trust of his patients, endangering lives and defrauding taxpayers of more than a million dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett. “While we argued this morning in favor of sentence that we believe was befitting of the crimes committed, we respect the Judge Barker’s decision and will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to make whole the victims of Mr. Tiwari’s actions.”
Tiwari was a medical doctor who specialized in anesthesiology in the Bloomington area, and he possessed a federal Drug Enforcement Administration license to prescribe controlled substances. In the late 1990’s, Dr. Tiwari began to focus his medical practice in “interventional pain management,” a specialty of medicine which includes a wide variety of therapies, often involving combinations of injection procedures and opioids.
Dr. Tiwari’s practice was based out of two Bloomington businesses: the Pain Management Center of Southern Indiana, and the Pain Management & Surgery Center of Southern Indiana, Inc. Patients were examined at the Pain Management Center, and then procedures were performed at the Surgery Center. Both businesses shared the same office suite.
Almost all health insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Anthem, require that health care services be “medically necessary” in order to be reimbursed. From January 2007 through December 2007, Dr. Tiwari now admits that he engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare, and Anthem by performing numerous medical procedures on patients that were not medically necessary, including such injection procedures as facet blocks, epidurals, and radiofrequency ablations.
These procedures both exceeded the standard of care in interventional pain medicine practice and also carried risks such as serious infection, as well as other side effects, from an excess amount of steroids. Dr.Tiwari has admitted that all of this was done for the purpose of increasing the revenue of his medical practice.
In addition, as a component of this scheme to defraud, Dr. Tiwari plead guilty to providing certain patients opioid prescriptions that exceeded any legitimate purpose. These prescriptions included such drugs as Percocet, Oxycontin, oxycodone, and methadone. These drugs, along with the excess steroids from the unnecessary procedures, caused some patients serious bodily injury.
“The epidemic problem of prescription drug abuse begins with overprescribing and ends by exacting a huge toll on our society,” said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) participated with federal authorities in the investigation of Tiwari. “Actions against physicians who abuse their position of trust are part of the solution to this problem, along with public education and treatment of drug addiction,"
The total amount of money that Dr. Tiwari earned from these medically unnecessary procedures in 2007 from Medicaid, Medicare, and Anthem patients amounted to $1,299,866.54, all of which must be repaid.
This case was the result of significant effort on the part of the prosecution team from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that included Assistant U.S. Attorneys Winfield D. Ong, Bradley P. Shepard, and Shelese M. Woods. The resolution of this case comes as part of the United States Attorney’s Office’s effort to focus on combating fraud and waste in Indiana.
The charges brought against Dr. Tiwari stemmed from an extensive investigation by the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Office of the Indiana Attorney General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Local & Bistate
Bloomington man sentenced for health fraud, drug distribution charges
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Relic from another age: Massive find
A mastodon that lived in the Wabash Valley thousands of years ago is making big news today.
-
Game Over: Financial tightening causes VCSC to drop St. Patrick’s from athletic schedule
St. Patrick’s School athletic teams will not have an opportunity to compete against their Vigo County School Corp. middle school counterparts next year.
-
Katelyn Newell finally at home
After nearly five months, 8-year-old Katelyn Newell finally returned home Thursday evening — with a new heart.
-
Indiana State U. Police officer honored with Artz Award
Thursday was a special day for Indiana State University Police Officer Christopher Heleine in multiple ways.
-
City Council considering three for consultant
Three different tax professionals vied Thursday for a chance to become a “financial consultant” to the Terre Haute City Council.
-
Clay County sheriff warns of bank card scam
The Clay County Sheriff’s Department has received information regarding a scam targeting residents, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department.
-
State Police seek help with Sullivan County homicide
Indiana State Police detectives from the Putnamville Post are seeking help from the public with the nearly six-month investigation into the death of 85-year-old Lowell R. Badger, a rural Sullivan County farmer.
-
Man who attacked Vigo deputy arrested
A Terre Haute man accused of attacking a Vigo County sheriff’s deputy earlier this week is facing felony charges in the Vigo County jail.
-
INDOT to bid final 641 phase
The final construction phase of the 641 bypass is scheduled to let for bids on Dec. 11, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
-
District office moves north
The Southwest District office of the Purdue Extension service has been moved north from Vincennes to Terre Haute.
-
Day is done…
The sun sets Thursday evening as seen from south of Terre Haute.
-
PHOTO UPDATE: I-5 bridge collapses in Northwest Washington; people in water
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
-
UPDATE: I-70 lanes in Putnam County now open
The west-bound lanes of Interstate 70 re-opened Thursday evening after being temporarily closed due to a crash near the Greencastle/Cloverdale exit.
-
22-hospital St. Vincent Health cutting jobs
INDIANAPOLIS — One of Indiana’s largest health systems says it’s cutting an undisclosed number of jobs by June 30 because of increasing economic and competitive pressure on the health care industry.
-
Update: Cleanup from overturned truck in Greene County continues
Fuel spillage from the dump truck hauling gravel that overturned this morning in Greene County at Indiana 54 and County Road 725 East near Ridgeport continues to restrict traffic to one lane.
-
17-pound bone found during Vigo flood cleanup
TERRE HAUTE — Crews cleaning up from Wabash River flooding in Vigo County came across a 17-pound bone that they believe might have come from an ancient mastodon.
-
Duke Energy gives $10K to Wabash Valley Red Cross for Vigo flood relief
Duke Energy is giving $10,000 to the Wabash Valley Red Cross chapter for flood relief from this spring’s heavy rains.
-
I-70 Frye Road overpass contract awarded; construction to begin May 28
The Indiana Department of Transportation has announced the Interstate-70 Frye Road overpass contract was awarded to Halverson Construction Co. Inc. from Springfield, Ill., for $317,166.
-
Banks of the Wabash Festival is more than just yearly entertainment
Pioneers think counterintuitively. Where others see widespread apathy, they focus on the possibility for progress. In a way, the 2013 Year of the River celebration began in the 1970s.
-
Planning session aims to better Terre Haute
It’s not yet clear what will come of it, but dozens of community leaders spent the whole day Wednesday trying to develop a plan – or collection of plans – to make Terre Haute “a better community.”
-
Education funding boost won’t benefit all schools
In the budget bill passed by the General Assembly last month, there is more money allocated for K-12 education over the next two years, but that doesn’t mean every school will get more dollars.
- Day of Action job options open
-
Park Board renames land around Memorial Stadium
Land surrounding Indiana State University’s Memorial Stadium on Terre Haute’s east side has been designated as Veterans Memorial Park, following a unanimous vote Wednesday from the Terre Haute Park Board.
-
Deputy suffers minor injury during incident
A Vigo County Sheriff’s deputy received a minor injury to his hand Tuesday night while subduing a drunken driving suspect who fled behind a North Terre Haute business.
-
Man accused of child neglect gets new trial date
An Oct. 15 trial date has been set for a Terre Haute man arrested in November for child neglect after he and his wife allegedly tied up and confined their adopted children in the family home.
-
Police find meth labs, arrest Pierson Township man
Police uncovered two active methamphetamine labs in southeastern Vigo County on Monday, leading to the arrest of a Pierson Township man.
-
New date set for attempted murder trial
A new trial date has been set for a Terre Haute woman charged with attempted murder.
-
Illinois Senate approves sex education bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A proposal that revamps sex education in Illinois public schools to include information about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases has cleared the state Senate.
-
Gregg pondering 2nd run for Indiana governor
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg is pondering another run at the state's top job, but has yet to make a decision.
-
Illinois senator apologizes for Nazi remark
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Sen. Donne Trotter has apologized for remarks that compared a member of Gov. Pat Quinn’s cabinet to a Nazi.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-




