Anesthesiologist Robert Odell, MD, chiropractors Roger Russell and David Ketchum and physician assistants Douglas Turner and Steven Olenchak were the staff members identified in the claim.
The allegations stem from a civil complaint filed on June 8 against Dr. Odell, claiming that Dr. Odell used codes for services covered by Medicare to bill for a procedure known as vertebral axial decompression as a treatment for back pain performed by himself and other providers at the center from Jan. 1, 2000 to the present. VAX-D is not covered under Medicare, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined the procedure was not “medically reasonable or necessary,” according to the report.
The settlement is not an admission of liability by the healthcare providers nor does it indicate the federal government determined the charges to be unfounded, according to the report.
Read the Sun’s report about the Las Vegas pain management Medicare fraud settlement.
