In a significant crackdown on healthcare fraud, Nathan Lucas, D.P.M., a 59-year-old podiatrist from Memphis, Tennessee, was sentenced today to four years in federal prison. Lucas was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme to defraud Medicare and TennCare, the Medicaid program administered by the State of Tennessee, by prescribing and dispensing medically unnecessary foot bath medications, resulting in millions of dollars in fraudulent reimbursements.
The Scheme Unveiled
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Lucas owned and operated a podiatry clinic and two pharmacies. From October 2018 through September 2021, he regularly prescribed a concoction of antibiotics and antifungal drugs to be mixed into tubs of water for patients to soak their feet.
These drug cocktails included capsules, creams, and powders that were not indicated for dissolution in water, and some were not even water-soluble. Lucas selected these medications based on their high reimbursement rates rather than medical necessity.
The fraudulent activities led to nearly $4 million in claims submitted to Medicare and TennCare, with Lucas’s pharmacies receiving over $3 million in reimbursements for these medically unnecessary foot bath medications.
The Conviction
A federal jury convicted Lucas on March 18 of five counts of healthcare fraud. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee; Special Agent in Charge Tamala E. Miles of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Director David Rausch of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced the sentencing.
Investigative and Prosecutorial Efforts
HHS-OIG and TBI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Sara E. Porter and Assistant Chief Justin M. Woodard of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted it, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.
Combatting Health Care Fraud
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat healthcare fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since its inception in March 2007, this program, comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion.…