Dr. Crispin Abarientos and his wife, Dr. Antonieta Abarientos, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments in which they will pay $4,927,903 to resolve allegations that they violated the federal and state False Claims Acts. Crispin and Antonieta Abarientos owned and operated Middlesex Rheumatology in Middletown, a medical practice that specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and related conditions. Crispin Abarientos was the treating physician at the practice and Antonieta Abarientos was a part owner of the practice. One of the medications that Crispin Abarientos prescribed to his Middlesex Rheumatology patients was Remicade, an injectable prescription medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. When treating Medicaid patients with Remicade, Crispin Abarientos was required to submit a claim to Connecticut Medicaid for Remicade on behalf of each member patient. Medicaid then sent payment to Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy in Massachusetts, which delivered the quantity of Remicade contained in the claim directly to Middlesex Rheumatology for the Medicaid patient without any out-of-pocket cost to the practice.
The government alleges that Crispin and Antonieta Abarientos submitted false claims to Medicaid for the delivery to Middlesex Rheumatology of Remicade that Crispin Abarientos represented was to be provided to his Medicaid patients, when he knew that those Medicaid patients were not being treated with Remicade. Crispin Abarientos then proceeded to infuse the fraudulently obtained Remicade he had obtained for free from Medicaid, into Medicare patients and patients covered by the Connecticut State Employees Health Plan, submit claims for reimbursement for the cost of the Remicade to those insurance programs, and keep the profits for himself and the practice. In a related federal criminal case, Crispin Abarientos pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and, on October 30, 2019, was sentenced to 37 months of imprisonment.
