OCOEE, Fla.,None — Drew Medical, the Ocoee-based medical testing company, has been banned from doing business with Medicare after allegations it defrauded the government out of more than $1 million, officials said.
On Friday, the attorney for Drew Medical told WFTV that it's all a paperwork mix-up.
Drew Medical is the largest medical testing center in Central Florida. Physicians have done radiology work on more than 3 million patients since 1988, but for two years, investigators said the company billed the federal government for more than 9,000 procedures it never performed on Medicare and Medicaid patients. Drew Medical collected $1.6 million from that.
"If he did it, then it wasn't right. That's if he did it," said a Drew Medical patient.
Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services said the feds were tipped off because of a 2006 complaint in federal court. WFTV went to the home of CEO Michael Dinkel on Friday, but he never opened the door.
Dinkel did call WFTV's newsroom and provided a number for his attorney, who said it was all a mix-up because of a change in federal billing codes.
"How did it go on for so long without them picking up on it?" asked WFTV reporter Daralene Jones.
"Well, if you thought you were doing it right, how would you pick up you were doing it wrong?" said Robert Harding, attorney for Dinkel.
Federal officials said on average about 3,000 people are banned from doing business with Medicare each year.
It's highly unusual for the owner or CEO of a company to be included in that list," said one federal official.
"You contend he did not try to intentionally defraud the government?" asked Jones.
"The judge even found that," said Harding.
Federal officials said Dinkel should have known what was going on. He's worked out a payment plan to pay back the money, and so far the feds have $700,000 from Dinkel.
Drew Medical is still open for business, but federal officials said it can't submit Medicare claims unless there's a change of ownership.
Harding said that hasn't happened.