An Alabama neurologist has admitted to running a scam in which he spent more than a decade defrauding insurers.
Dr. Rassan M. Tarabein, a former pain-management doctor, pleaded guilty to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of unlawful distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance. As part of the plea agreement, Tarabein will no longer be allowed to practice medicine or prescribe controlled substances in the United States. He also faces up to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud and up to 20 years for the controlled-substance charge.
Tarabein ran the Eastern Shore Neurology and Pain Center in Daphne, Ala. He admitted to prosecutors that between 2004 and 2017, he ran an insurance scam in which he convinced patients to visit his clinic so he could bill insurers for medically unnecessary procedures. According to acting US Attorney Steve Butler, Tarabein fraudulently sought payments from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and others.
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Tarabein has also been charged with state crimes including Medicaid fraud and first-degree theft of property, both felonies.
“Doctors who exploit patients through medically unnecessary services to line their own pockets have no place in our healthcare system,” Butler said. “I commend the investigators who unraveled Dr. Tarabein’s scam for their commitment to uproot healthcare fraud.”
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