Patients at the Rose Cancer Center in Mississippi thought they were receiving the treatment they desperately needed to fight their devastating disease. Unbeknownst to them, however, the clinic physician, Dr. Meera Sachdeva, was diluting their medicine, billing for services not provided, and forcing unqualified staff to perform critical medical procedures. Moreover, in order to conceal her fraud, Dr. Sachdeva instructed staff to falsify medical records.
In addition to the obvious adverse effects on the health of patients, Dr. Sachdeva’s conduct also defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars in Medicare funds, as well as private insurers who provided insurance coverage for the cancer center’s unfortunate patients.
Dr. Sachdeva might still be getting away with this reprehensible conduct if not for a brave employee named Kristi Beeson. Shortly after being hired as a laboratory technician at Rose Cancer Center, Kristi began to suspect that Dr. Sachdeva was involved in something very sinister. Her suspicions were confirmed when she herself was bluntly told to “correct”irregularities in patient medical records.
Refusing to participate in Dr. Sachdeva’s horrific scheme, Kristi contacted the authorities and exposed Dr. Sachdeva’s criminal conduct. The United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi initiated a criminal prosecution of Dr. Sachdeva, and Kristi provided crucial assistance that ultimately led to Dr. Sachdeva’s conviction. In addition to receiving a twenty year prison sentence, Dr. Sachdeva forfeited approximately $5.7 million in assets she obtained by defrauding Medicare.
In addition to assisting the federal criminal prosecution, Kristi also filed a whistleblower lawsuit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. We are proud to have served as her counsel in this case along with Marlene Koury and Gordon Schnell of the Constantine Cannon firm, and Jonathan Barrett of Barrett Law, PLLC in Mississippi.
For more information on this case, follow the links below:
https://www.law360.com/articles/568330/cancer-center-fraudster-pays-5-7m-to-end-fca-suit