Texas Vascular Associates Sued in Dallas for Alleged Medicare, Insurance Fraud

DALLAS, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A former employee of Dallas' Texas Vascular Associates, PA, (TVA) is suing the company and nine physicians after being fired for allegedly refusing to fraudulently bill Medicare and private insurance companies for patient services.

Cortez Mills began working for TVA in 2010 and was the company's only certified medical coding professional. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Mills discovered the fraudulent billing practices while reviewing and releasing patient bills to Medicare and private insurers for payment.

"Ms. Mills identified what we believe was an illegal scheme at TVA, and she lost her job for refusing to play along," says Dallas attorney Matt Scott of the Kendall Law Group, who represents Ms. Mills. "She had the courage to speak up and recognize this was wrong."

According to the complaint, Ms. Mills uncovered numerous ways TVA and its physicians illegally bill Medicare and private insurance carriers, including instances where a doctor without a Medicare billing number would submit bills using other doctors' numbers.

The lawsuit also accuses TVA of additional fraudulent activities, including double-billing different insurance carriers for the same services, coding insurance claims so certain services would not be bundled, and billing for services that were never performed by physicians.

According to the claims, TVA doctors repeatedly ordered Ms. Mills to engage in insurance billing fraud and when she objected, a supervisor told her: "He pays your salary, do what he says."

"The scheme TVA set up couldn't be clearer," says Joe Kendall of the Kendall Law Group. "Ms. Mills provided vital information and passed a polygraph test confirming the truthfulness of every word in her lawsuit, and we are well-prepared to prove our case in court."

The lawsuit, Cortez Mills v. Texas Vascular Associates, et al., No. CC-12-04630-D, was filed July 26, 2012, in Dallas County Court at Law No. 4. The doctors named in the lawsuit are Gregory J. Pearl, William P. Shutze, Dennis R. Gable, Brad R. Grimsley, Toby J. Dunn, Stephen E. Hohmann, John C. Kedora, Taylor C. Hicks and Bertram L. Smith.

The Kendall Law Group is a trial firm that represents individuals in employment discrimination and securities fraud lawsuits against companies. Visit the firm's website at http://www.kendalllawgroup.com.

To speak with Ms. Mills or for more information on the case, please contact Mark Annick at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Kendall Law Group