Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11829
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Publication type: media release
Local Psychiatrist Indicted for Fraud Associated with Mentally Ill Patients and Children in Clinical Trials
The United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana 2007 Jun 14
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/lae/press/2007/2007_06_14_palazzo_ind.htm
Full text:
DR. MARIA CARMEN PALAZZO, age 55, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was charged in a 55-count superseding indictment by a Federal Grand Jury for health care fraud and false documentation associated with a clinical trial of Paxil in children and adolescents, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
The indictment alleges that during approximately a five-year period, DR. PALAZZO defrauded Medicare in connection with services she claimed to have rendered to patients in a Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program at Touro Infirmary. The indictment also charges that DR. PALAZZO defrauded Medicare by submitting false and fraudulent invoices to Touro Infirmary for consulting and medical director services. It is also alleged that as a result of the fraud, Medicare paid PALAZZO over $653,000 she was not entitled to receive.
DR. PALAZZO, who specializes in psychiatry, is also charged with offenses relating to clinical trials involving Paxil. The indictment charges that PALAZZO, as a clinical investigator for SmithKline Beecham d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline, fraudulently failed to maintain and prepare records required by the FDA for evaluation of Paxil’s safety and effectiveness in children and adolescents.
If convicted, DR. MARIA CARMEN PALAZZO faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 445 years, a fine of $10,150,000, $5,500 in special assessments and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Louisiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Speaking to today’s indictment, U. S. Attorney Letten stated:
“I want to offer my thanks to our prosecutors and to the men and women of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the FBI and Louisiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for an outstanding partnership in this most important case. The citizens must know that we in federal enforcement, together with our state and local partners, will do everything in our power to aggressively protect our taxpayers and our citizens from those who would seek to unlawfully profit at the expense of our citizens who so desperately need health care assistance.”
Special Agent in Charge Timothy Menke added:
“The Office of Inspector General vigorously pursues prosecution for those doctors and medical providers who seek to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This indictment should send a message to other doctors who believe they are immune from criminal prosecution that fraud, waste and abuse of these federal programs will not be tolerated.”
U. S. Attorney Letten reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Patrice Harris Sullivan.
