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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Doctor Tells U.S. Judge He Created Fake L.I.R.R. Injury Claims


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 18, 2013

An orthopedist who was accused of taking cash payments for fake diagnoses and billing health insurance companies for unnecessary medical treatment in widespread disability fraud involving Long Island Rail Road workers pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy charges.

The doctor, Peter J. Ajemian, admitted that between the late 1990s and 2008 he invented “narratives” to justify illness and injury claims for hundreds of workers seeking to retire on disability.

The employees “were not in fact disabled and could have continued working in their railroad jobs, as they had no complaint right up to the time of their retirement date,” Dr. Ajemian told a judge in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said that Dr. Ajemian, 63, received up to $1,200 for each of the fake assessments, as well as millions of dollars in health insurance payments. His patients received more than $90 million in disability benefits.

Dr. Ajemian was among 32 defendants who have been arrested in the past two years.

Three other retirees also pleaded guilty this week, bringing the number of guilty pleas in the case to 21.

Sentencing for Dr. Ajemian was set for May 24.

The story is here.