M of patients , include tiddler , may have been affected in a doctor ’s alleged scheme that funded his extravagant life style .
Dr. Jorge Zamora - Quezada , a rheumatologist base in South Texas , has been charged in a $ 240 million health care pseudo and money laundering dodging . In a Union indictment unsealed Monday , the Justice Department accused Zamora - Quezada of incorrectly diagnosing patients with degenerative disease , then give those patients chemotherapy and other toxic medications they did not need .
The indictment say that Zamora - Quezada and his partners in the alleged faker create simulated patient records and hide one thousand of factual medical records in a rundown barn in the the Rio Grande Valley .
harmonize to the argument released by DOJ , Zamora - Quezada used the $ 50 million he realize from the alleged outline to fund his “ lavish and opulent lifestyle . ” The Dr. and his co - conspirators allegedly used earnings from the fraud to buy luxury cars , jets , architect clothes , and property in the U.S. and Mexico . His private squirt and Maserati were both branded with his initials “ ZQ . ” By allegedly investing the monetary fund in genuine estate in another res publica to hide the source of the earnings , the doctor also allegedly enlist in external money laundering .
“ Today ’s bill of indictment is the first step in obtain Dr. Zamora - Quezada accountable for his allegedly egregious deplorable behavior , ” C.J. Porter , special agent of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General ’s Dallas Region , said in a statement . “ His patients trusted him and presume his integrity ; in return he allegedly wage in a scheme of false diagnosing and bogus courses of treatment and doled out prescription for unnecessary and harmful medications , all for his personal fiscal amplification and with no attentiveness for patient well - being . ”
harmonize to theNational Health Care Anti - Fraud Association , wellness care fraud costs the U.S. $ 68 billions each year .
Maria Zapata , a former patient role of Zamora - Quezada , toldCNNthe Dr. name her with arthritis and give her injection he allege would help her stifle . She said the treatment did n’t help , and she acknowledge discoloration in her leg . Her family line doctor distinguish her she did n’t have arthritis , and other doctors expressed vexation .
Another patient role , Raymond Orta , toldRio Grande Valley ’s local CBS affiliatethat he went to Zamora - Quezada for joint pain and the physician diagnosed him with rheumatoid arthritis and dispense heavy “ chemo - horizontal surface drug . ” Orta grew more concerned as he gain more than a hundred Cypriot pound before he finally work to another doctor .
“ rather of assist me up as a doctor , he essentially spatter on me while I was down , ” Orta told CBS 4 News . “ Like at the lowest level , this dude spue on me and kvetch me while I was down . ”
[ U.S. Department of Justice|CNN ]
Science
Daily Newsletter
Get the right technical school , scientific discipline , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
