Doctor Accused of $375 Million Medicare Fraud Decides He Won’t Practice Medicine Anymore

You might remember Dr. Jacques Roy. Back in February, the feds fingered him as the leader of one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in history, alleging that he bilked the federal government of nearly $375 million.

To recap: Between 2005 and 2011, Roy referred more than 11,000 individual patients for home health services, which was more than any other medical practice in the United States. The crack team at the Department of Health and Human Services, “using sophisticated data analysis,” determined that since this was 500 times the rate of referral of the average physician, something was fishy.

So it was. According to the indictment, Roy used home health agencies to recruit patients. Roy’s company, Medistat, would then bill Medicare for home visits and medical services that were either unnecessary or never happened. One of his associates allegedly trolled for patients at The Bridge.

All of which is a roundabout way of letting you know that you can now just call him Mr. Roy. The Texas Medical Board announced Friday (though it only appeared in my inbox today) that Roy permanently surrendered his medical license “in lieu of further disciplinary proceedings regarding allegations he failed to meet the standard of care for two patients and violation of state and federal law.”

It’s just as well, since the license won’t of much use at Seagoville’s Federal Correctional Institution, where Roy awaits a November cro,oma; trial.