Personal Injury Law

Eye Doctor Charged With Felony Fraud Flees to Illinois To Continue Treating Patient

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

Different state medical boards have different rules regarding the consequences faced by doctors when they are found guilty of wrong-doing. Some states mandate harsher penalties that strongly limit a discredited doctor?s ability to continue seeing patients. Other states are a bit more lenient.

In many ways, Illinois falls on the more lenient side.

Take, for example, the case of convicted felon eye-doctor Krishnarao V. Rednam. St. Louis Today reported recently on his story, explaining how Dr. Rednam was charged in 2008 of various examples of billing fraud and patient endangerment. Those actions included charging Medicare for expensive drugs but only providing cheaper, experimental drugs to patients, splitting single use medication among several patients, and possibly subjecting patients to unsterile needles.

Dr. Rednam was found to have committed these actions hundreds of times, bilking patients and their insurers out of over $600,000. When investigators were closing in on his actions, the doctor began destroying medical records to cover-up his conduct. The authorities eventually convicted the doctor of a felony for his destruction of those records. As a result, the Missouri medical board revoked his license and disallowed possible readmission for seven years.

However, because a felony conviction does not automatically trigger the suspension of a medical license in Illinois, Dr. Rednam moved to the state to re-open practice here. Since moving to Illinois in early 2009, the doctor has begun seeing patients at the Trinity United Methodist Outreach Center.

Unfortunately, these differing guidelines between states make it very difficult for a patient to be fully informed about the medical professional from which they are seeking care. This poses a serious concern for facilitating the openness and honesty inherently necessary in the medical profession. Felony convictions like those of Dr. Rednam are particularly troubling because they relate directly to conduct that both stole client funds and sacrificed their care for increased doctor profits.

One Medical ethicist explains, ?Medical treatment depends on being able to trust you physician. You have to be able to share secrets, speak honestly, and talk about sensitive subjects.?

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).