BOSTON - A manager for a company that manufactured and distributed bone growth stimulator medical devices was convicted today in federal court on fraud charges.
Derrick R.D. Field, 36, of Greenland, NH, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to committing health care fraud. He will be sentenced on June 27, 2012. Field faces up to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, asset forfeiture and restitution.
Had the case proceeded to trial, evidence would have proven that between 2005 and 2011 Field was a territory manager for a company that manufactured and distributed bone growth stimulator medical devices. Field’s territory included Mass., NH and RI. The device that Field sold was intended to assist patients with bone fractures that did not heal properly. Medicare has specific guidelines describing when it will pay for this device. In many cases, Field received orders for Medicare patients that did not meet these guidelines. When this happened, Field forged the patients’ medical records to make it appear as though the order met Medicare’s guidelines to pay for claims that otherwise would not be covered. For instance, Field created phony medical chart notes, describing patient visits that did not occur and altering the physicians’ actual chart notes by inserting false diagnoses and descriptions of the patients’ medical history. Field forged medical records in connection with more than 100 Medicare claims, causing Medicare to pay more than $250,000 to Field’s employer for orders that did not meet program guidelines.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; and Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Resident Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Schumacher and Jeremy Sternberg of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.
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