Posted on 05/03/2019 1:04:28 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Fifteen Southern California chiropractors have been arrested in a multimillion-dollar insurance fraud scheme which was run by their Studio City colleague, the L.A. County district attorney’s office announced Friday.
Most of the chiropractors were arrested in a sweep Thursday.
Yury Chernega, 47, of Studio City, was the ringleader of the scheme in which he referred new patients to fellow colleagues, who in turn filed fake automobile collision medical claims on behalf of those patients, the DA’s office said.
Between 2015 and 2018, Chernega then received $6 million in illegal kickback fees for the referrals, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, the 15 chiropractors defrauded about 30 insurance companies to the tune of a combined approximately $500,000, the DA’s office said.
Chernega did not report the illegal income on his tax returns, the complaint alleges.
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
The old fashioned straight chiros are the best.
Adjustments are fine. But some chiros think their scope includes more than that and when it can lead to trouble.
I worked for two years for a state chiro licensing board dealing with licensure and complaints. It was eye opening.
“the legislative intent of [state] drug tax laws is to impose an additional penalty—tax evasion—upon drug offenders after they are arrested and criminally charged with a drug violation.”
As someone who has been in the law you’re both right. There is medical benefit to chiropractic, but the medical benefit ends at 6 or 8 weeks at the outside. After that, sure it feels good if I give you a back rub, but it’s of no medical benefit. Yet chiropractors will continue to “treat” patients for two or three years, once or twice a week. That’s why they have such a bad reputation ... as an industry they shamelessly overtreat to jack up their bills. You can imagine the surprise of personal injury victims when the adjuster tells them to stick their chiro bills.
My last visit to a new practor had him taping electrodes all along my back to track whatever problem he thought I had. No worries, your insurance will cover it he said............
That cost me $350 bucks and no relief. Over time, the problem cleared up and went away...........
Been to many practors over my lifetime and all they know how to do is crack your back, much the same way I used to crack my knuckles..........
I get a kick out of the commercials aired by local "Doctors of Chiropractic", DC...........They ain't no doctors, doctors deal with medicine and can issue prescriptions..........
Quackerpractors.
Over the years I’ve been using chiropractors, the ones that have treated me were pretty honest.
My chiropractor doesn’t take any insurance... just cash when you are treated.
He also quit adding people to the waiting list when it passed 7 years.
“nearly as effective as a physical therapists”.
Then don’t call them “Chiropractic Doctors”; call them “wanna be physical therapists” who couldn’t make the grade!
Ever wonder why?
I know why.
You take insurance you have to hire at least one full time person just to process and follow up on claims to get paid.
Secondly, regardless of what treatment a patient might need, only select treatments are approved for claims.
People who are willing to pay out of their own pocket seem more committed to health.
“”Chiropractic, especially upper cervical, has done wonders for me.””
The same can be said for anyone who has the experience of being treated by chiropractors which the poster obviously did not. He SHOULD have his asbestos jacket on. There should be something for people who don’t have a clue about what they’re saying. I’ve had 80+ years of experience doctoring with chiropractors.
My personal opinion of this story is I was ready to see names that are foreign and I wasn’t disappointed. THAT’s the way it usually is especially for fraud in all professions in CA.
“”They ain’t no doctors, doctors deal with medicine and can issue prescriptions...””
WOW - ignorance at its finest. Check out the requirements for graduation from a legitimate chiropractic college and then let us know whether we can call them doctors or not. Ask any state licensing board if they are qualified to be doctors. Lots of luck if you think prescribing medicine is the solution to all health problems.
Can a Chiropractor prescribe medications or not? If not, he is not a Doctor......simple as that. I would just as soon have a Chiropractor treat me for cancer (and yes, hacks do) as I would my gardener.....
So who is ignorant here?
Crack you back, fix your lumbago. Crack your back, fix your insomnia. Crack your back, fix whatever.......the list goes on and it's all nonsense.
Try an upper cervical chiropractor.
My son was in a car wreck and was seeing our family physical therapist. The guy does wonders. Treats us once or twice and gives us exercises for home.
I’m guessing he had worked on my son’s spine for 6 to 8 weeks, and thought he had a couple more weeks left. The insurance company had my son go into their doctor and said he was fine. I trust our guy over the other doctor, and my son is still in pain. I told him to either go see his own doctor to get a second opinion, or I would just pay for the next two weeks.
Of course it has been a month now, and I’m guessing his muscles have tightened up so much again that it will take a month of rehab instead of the two weeks. I guess I was that way when I was his age. Now as soon as I tweek something I go in and get it fixed. The longer it stays tweeked, the longer it takes to work it out.
Several times we have something going on and we go see doctors and they do whatever and can’t figure it out. My one kid had headaches and they couldn’t see anything on the x-ray, so they were going to do MRI’s etc.
Then my wife had the idea to ask our physical therapist and he diagnosed the problem and sent us to a specialist that took care of the chronic headaches in about two weeks! (The doctors could have done 10 MRIs and brain surgery and never would have figured it out.)
For about 20 years starting when I was 15, chiropractic was sometimes the difference between almost-incapacitating back pain and relief. I would go to the chiropractor hunched over, unable to take a full breath because of the pain. When I left I could breathe and walk normally.
The chiropractic theory I have read was unscientific nonsense, the chiropractic therapy I experienced worked amazingly well, when performed by a competent chiropractor.
Someone needs to straighten this out ASAP.
They need to get some backbone
I’ve had back & neck issues for decades.
Some chiropractors have helped me, others were ineffective.
A masseuse badly injured me.
Medical doctors have misdiagnosed me, prescribed meds that nearly killed me.
Ya pays yer money & ya takes yer chances.
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