A Massachusetts orthopedic surgeon has been convicted by a federal jury in Boston for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme. Dr. Olarewaju James Oladipo, 60, of Canton, was convicted on Dec. 12, 2023, of 10 counts of healthcare fraud. From approximately January 2016 through December 2019, Oladipo devised and executed a scheme to defraud healthcare benefit programs by falsely billing for patient visits. Specifically, Oladipo used billing codes for more complex—and thus more expensive—services that were not provided (a practice that is sometimes referred to as “upcoding”). Oladipo falsified medical records of patient visits to reflect examinations and services that were not performed.
During the four-year period, Oladipo frequently billed for more than 60 patients per day and sometimes more than 90 patients per day. The result was that many, if not most, of Oladipo’s patient visits on such days could have only lasted five minutes or less. However, Oladipo used billing codes that typically corresponded to visits of 15, 25, 30, or even 45 minutes. Additionally, Oladipo ensured this high flow of patients to his practice by prescribing powerful, highly addictive opioids at a rate that made him one of the top prescribers of such drugs in Massachusetts.
