A Texas doctor pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a $54 million scheme to defraud Medicare by prescribing durable medical equipment and cancer genetic testing without ever seeing, speaking to or otherwise treating patients.
According to court documents, Daniel R. Canchola, 49, of Flower Mound, agreed to electronically sign orders for durable medical equipment (DME) and cancer genetic testing that he knew were used to submit more than $54 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.
From August 2018 through April 2019, Canchola received approximately $30 in exchange for each doctor's order he signed authorizing DME and cancer genetic test orders that were not legitimately prescribed, not needed or not used—totaling more than $466,000 in kickbacks.
The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Canchola prescribed DME and cancer genetic testing were targeted by telemarketing campaigns and at health fairs and were induced to submit to the cancer genetic testing and to receive the DME regardless of medical necessity.
Canchola pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 15, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
