A federal district judge has ordered Charles Adams MD and his medical practice to pay more than $27 million for violating the False Claims Act (FCA). In June 2023, a federal jury in Rome found that the defendants violated the FCA by submitting false claims to Medicare for chelation therapy reimbursements. Chelation therapy involves the use of drugs to remove heavy metals from the body. The jury found that Medicare reimbursed the defendants more than $1.1 million for these unnecessary treatments. In a post-trial ruling, the federal district judge added penalties to the jury’s verdict, bringing the total amount owed to more than $27 million.
According to US Attorney Buchanan, the civil complaint, the court’s final order, and other information presented in court: Adams operated a medical practice in Ringgold, Georgia, known as Full Circle Medical Center. As a part of his internal medicine specialty, Adams administered the drug edetate calcium disodium (“EDTA”) to address a wide range of conditions, including atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, headaches, GI ailments, fatigue, and other generalized symptoms. But these symptoms are not recognized as being treatable using EDTA. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, EDTA is recognized as a treatment only for lead poisoning and lead encephalopathy. Because Dr. Adams’ patients did not have lead poisoning or lead encephalopathy, Medicare would not reimburse his use of EDTA. To receive reimbursement for the EDTA, Dr. Adams falsely claimed to Medicare that his patients suffered from heavy metal poisoning.
