Disgraced Temecula Doctor Sentenced In Medicare Fraud Scheme

Temecula CA

28 April, 2022

3:37 PM

Description

TEMECULA, CA — A disgraced Temecula doctor convicted in a $12 million health-care fraud scheme has been sentenced to 93 months in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Thursday's sentencing follows the October 2019 conviction of Donald Woo Lee, now 55. After a five-day trial, a jury found him guilty of seven counts of health care fraud and one count of adulteration of a medical device. The Temecula resident also pleaded guilty in March 2020 to one count of submitting false declarations in a bankruptcy proceeding. In addition to the prison term handed down Thursday, Lee was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $4.5 million in restitution to Medicare. The case stems from a federal investigation into Lee's activities that occurred between 2012 and 2015. According to the DOJ, Lee recruited Medicare beneficiaries to his clinics, falsely diagnosed them, and provided the victims with medically unnecessary procedures. He then billed Medicare using an inappropriate code in order to obtain a higher reimbursement, a practice known as "upcoding." Additionally, federal prosecutors allege the evidence presented at trial showed Lee repackaged used, contaminated catheters for reuse on patients. The catheters had been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration as single-use only, according to the federal agency. "The reuse of these devices put patients at risk of infection and other bodily injury," according to a DOJ press release. Lee submitted claims of approximately $12 million to Medicare for what investigators said were vein ablation procedures — a treatment used on varicose veins — and he received $4.5 million as a result. Lee operated the practice Prime Partners Medical Group in Temecula and Murrieta. According to Medical Board of California records, Lee surrendered his license to practice as a physician and surgeon in the state as a result of the investigation; he will not be permitted to practice in California again. Lee graduated from St. George's University School of Medicine in 1994 and his address of record was 31812 Country View Road in Temecula, according to the medical board. The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations were the agencies investigating Lee.