Psychiatrist involved in Wheelchair Fraud

A complex Medicare scam has been exposed in Texas.

The only doctor to have accounts frozen so far has been Lewis Gottlieb, whose Medicare enrollment shows him as a psychiatry and family practice specialist, the FBI said. According to the prosecutor's complaint, Gottlieb was paid more than $2 million by Medicare in 2002 for 25,121 claims. That is an average of 68.8 claims per day, seven days a week, prosecutors said.

The twist on this one is that it is not just your regular case of drugs, etc., but it involves high end wheel chairs. Taxpayers have been getting billed more than $5,000 for a motorized wheelchair, even though a less-expensive scooter is often delivered and frequently isn't even needed. The scope of the mess is amazing.