Northern Kentucky Doctors Challenge Prison Sentences in Health Care Fraud Case, What Problems Faced Next!

DEBARYLIFE – The lengthy legal action involving a doctor employed by a pain clinic in Northern Kentucky and its owner has resulted in prison sentences for healthcare fraud. However, the matter is far from over.

According to court documents filed on Tuesday, Timothy Ehn, a licensed chiropractor and owner of the Northern Kentucky Center for Pain Relief, and Dr. William Siefert, the clinic’s former medical director, are currently appealing their convictions and sentences to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

In Covington federal court last month, Ehn and Siefert received sentences. While Siefert received an 18-month prison sentence and was required to pay over $2 million in reparations, Ehn was sentenced to 30 months in prison and $3.7 million in compensation.

The penalties were given more than a year after Ehn, 51, and Siefert, 70, were convicted guilty of health care fraud at a trial. In addition, Ehn was found guilty of planning to commit healthcare fraud.

According to authorities, the charges are the result of a plan to charge health insurers for “medically unnecessary” urine drug tests for patients taking opioids for chronic pain. Siefert and Ehn also scammed Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies out of more than $4 million.

Prosecutors alleged that Ehn and Siefert kept billing for drug testing despite the fact that their machine broke down due to inadequate maintenance and that many tests were not used in patient care because the clinic’s lab was months behind schedule in processing test results.

Approximately 75% of the clinic’s income came from insurance funds from the drug testing program.

Prosecutors stated in a pre-sentence court document that “doctors should be on the frontlines of stopping such fraud.” “They possess the special ability to identify the kinds of tests that are not required by medicine.”

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Prosecutors also claimed that the two provided easy access to opioids for drug-seeking patients, leading to their indictment in February 2021. The jury was divided.

According to court documents, Siefert and Ehn were acquitted of conspiring to distribute a controlled narcotic. Additionally, Siefert was found not guilty on one count of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud and nine charges of distributing a controlled narcotic.

According to court documents, Siefert has been released on bond until his appeal is being heard. Ehn must go to a federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, by June 3.

Both Ehn and Siefert, according to their attorneys, firmly believe they are innocent of the offenses for which they were found guilty.

His lawyer, Lindsay Gerdes, released a statement saying, “Dr. Siefert has dedicated over 40 years to treating patients, and he will remain at liberty as he continues to fight to clear his name.”

According to court documents, Siefert has consented to give up his Kentucky medical license and never practice medicine again, according to Gerdes.

Ronald Chapman II, the attorney for Ehn, stated that the judge overseeing the two men’s trial erred in permitting prosecutors to present an insurance policy as proof that Siefert and Ehn had ordered excessive drug tests.

The government’s argument would have probably crumbled in the absence of such a guideline, Chapman added, adding that the matter will be brought up in an appeal.

“Doctors who treat pain should have the autonomy to determine how frequently to administer drug tests to their patients,” Chapman stated.