A New York doctor was charged in federal court in Boston for allegedly receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans. Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, NY was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the charging documents, Seodat, an internist in Long Island, NY, was a licensed medical doctor in the State of New York for approximately 36 years. It is alleged that from approximately June 2013 through December 2019, Seodat conspired with others, including a principal for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks. TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain.
It is further alleged that Seodat and his co-conspirators used false diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which a co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies, including private insurance companies, on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment. In exchange, Seodat was paid cash kickbacks of approximately $100 per test. According to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of approximately $1 million to Medicare and private insurance companies.
