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SALT LAKE CITY — Two indictments were handed down in Utah this week amid a nationwide crackdown on health care fraud.
The U.S. Justice Department unveiled on Thursday "the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action involving 601 charged defendants across 58 federal districts, including 165 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving more than $2 billion in false billings," according to a prepared statement.
In Utah, a federal indictment was filed Tuesday against Living for Life MD LLC, doing business as SLC Med Spa, 2138 S. Highland Drive. The company was charged with receipt and delivery of adulterated devices, a misdemeanor, for importing drugs that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
According to a prepared statement from U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber, the clinic was buying a drug manufactured overseas and passing it off to patients as Juvederm Ultra 2, typically used for facial injections.
The indictment does not say how many patients may have received the substitute drugs or whether it had any ill effects.
In a second case, a grand jury indicted Colette Krum Kolesar, 48, of Spanish Fork, with one count of destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation. Kolesar worked for a home health and hospice center with an office in Provo, Huber said.
"The indictment alleges the defendant altered medical records, including therapy notices from nursing visits, with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence an investigation being conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services," according to the statement.
The indictment does not say what kind of investigation was being conducted by the department or how many records Kolesar allegedly altered. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison and fined $250,000.
"We take these health care cases very seriously in Utah. Patients must be able to rely on their doctors to provide them with proper care and legitimate, FDA-approved drugs," Huber said. "Additionally, health care providers who submit claims to government programs like Medicare and Medicaid must abide by the rules and regulations those programs have in place, including maintaining treatment records and conducting accurate billing."
