The fallout continues from the indictments of Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King on charges of conspiracy, healthcare fraud, money laundering and kickbacks in relation to the use of amniotic products.
Gehrke and King’s companies include (but may not be limited to) Apex Mobile Medical LLC, Apex Medical LLC, Viking Medical Consultants LLC, and APX Mobile Medical LLC. The Arizona Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the two applied expensive amniotic grafts to vulnerable patients’ wounds indiscriminately, without coordination with the patients’ treating physicians, without proper treatment for infection, to superficial wounds that did not need this treatment, and in sizes excessively larger than the wound. In just sixteen months, Medicare paid the defendants more than $600 million – which is more than a million dollars per patient. The DOJ says that the defendants received more than $330 million in illegal kickbacks from the graft distributor in exchange for purchasing and ordering the grafts billed to Medicare.
Two nurse practitioners have been charged in connection with the APX scheme. Bethany Jameson, a nurse practitioner in Gilbert, AZ is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the APX scheme. As alleged in the information, Jameson was paid by Apex Mobile Medical and APX to apply medically unnecessary allografts to Medicare beneficiaries that were procured through kickbacks and bribes. Between November 2022 and August 2023, Apex Mobile Medical and APX billed Medicare over $71 million for allografts applied by Jameson.
Also charged in connection with APX is Carlos Ching, a nurse practitioner in Phoenix, AZ. As alleged in the information, between June 2023 and January 2024, APX fraudulently billed Medicare over $87 million for allografts applied by Ching, of which Medicare paid over $65 million. From January 2024 through March 2024, Ching, through his company H3 Medical Clinic LLC, billed Medicare over $5 million for allografts that he procured through kickbacks and bribes and applied to Medicare beneficiaries without medical necessity. Both cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Shane Butland of the National Rapid Response Strike Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
A complaint, information, or indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
The opinions, comments, and content expressed or implied in my statements are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of Intellicure or any of the boards on which I serve.
