Chesapeake Regional Medical Center (CRMC) has been hit with federal charges for healthcare fraud associated with the unnecessary surgeries performed by the now-convicted Dr. Javaid Perwaiz.
Perwaiz convicted
Based on the evidence at his trial in 2020, Perwaiz performed irreversible hysterectomies, improper sterilizations, and other medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures on patients from at least 2010 and 2019. During that period, Perwaiz caused approximately $20.8 million dollars in losses to private and government health care insurers, court documents show.
“In many instances, Perwaiz would falsely tell his patients that they needed the surgeries because they had cancer, or to avoid cancer, in order to induce them to agree to the surgeries. Many of the surgeries occurred within days of the false diagnoses,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Perwaiz was convicted of 52 charges associated with this scheme. Of them, approximately 38 were for procedures performed at CMRC, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.
He was sentenced to 59 years in May 2021.
Case not closed
This week, on January 8, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against CRMC for healthcare fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and interference with government functions.
“After Dr. Perwaiz was convicted of performing irreversible hysterectomies and other medically unnecessary surgeries on women, we continued to investigate the role that CRMC played,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Perwaiz did not act alone in this conspiracy to needlessly sterilize and otherwise harm women. The Grand Jury found today that CRMC was complicit in this horrifying scheme to place profits over patient care.”
According to the indictment, from 2010 to 2019, CRMC allegedly received approximately $18.5 million in reimbursements from health care benefit programs for procedures Perwaiz performed at the facility.
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The indictment also alleges CRMC was notified in 1983 that Perwaiz’s privileges at Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth were suspended for performing unnecessary surgeries and CRMC’s Department of Surgery initially declared him unacceptable but later granted him privileges.
Further, Perwaiz pled guilty to two federal tax fraud felonies in 1995. Yet CRMC re-credentialed Perwaiz approximately every two years between 1984 and 2019 despite having information regarding his felony convictions, his prior hospital suspension, and notes regarding medical malpractice lawsuits resulting from procedures he performed at CRMC, the indictment argues.
“Ensuring the full measure of justice is brought to all those complicit in the heinous acts committed by Dr. Perwaiz is of the highest priority,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher W. Dillard of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Federal authorities are urging anyone who believes they may be a victim in this case or who has information regarding this matter to contact the HHS-OIG tipline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS /1-800-447-8477 or online at tips.oig.hhs.gov.
CRMC issued a statement describing the charges as “unfounded and an excessive overreach.” The facility said they will respond more fully in court through its external counsel, Oberheiden P.C.
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