A Muskegon physician pleaded guilty on May 25, 2022, to a felony information charging her with one count of healthcare fraud. According to court documents, Soaries Maxine Peterson, M.D., 68, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield for services that she did not perform. Dr. Peterson admitted that she billed for office visits for patients who came to her office, often to obtain monthly prescriptions for controlled substances, when she was on vacation out of state or when she was outside of the office performing other services. During these encounters, patients met only with unlicensed office staff and no qualified health professional.
As part of a global settlement, Dr. Peterson also agreed to pay the United States and the State of Michigan $500,000 to resolve her civil liability under the False Claims Act for the alleged fraudulent claims she billed to Medicare and Medicaid, as well to resolve her federal liability under the Controlled Substances Act related to her prescribing of controlled substances. More specifically, the United States alleges that Dr. Peterson wrote prescriptions for controlled substances to her patients without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. As part of the investigation, Dr. Peterson surrendered her Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) registration for cause, and she has agreed to never reapply for a new registration, preventing her from ever prescribing opioids and other controlled substances in the future.
