A Georgia internist has been sued in a federal complaint for submitting over $2.2 million in false claims to Medicare, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. 

The lawsuit alleges Robert M. Ritchea, MD, improperly billed Medicare for pain injections administered by an unlicensed medical assistant, who performed unnecessary pain injection procedures that were billed to Medicare as nerve blocks. Dr. Ritchea admitted that the procedures were not medically necessary and that they were overprescribed and overutilized.

Dr. Ritchea is being charged for also allegedly billing Medicare for more expensive procedures than were actually performed and for other services that were not reimbursable. (READ MORE)