Federal prosecutors charged Chesapeake Regional Medical Center with fraud for its alleged role in a former OBGYN doctor’s practice of billing insurance companies for unnecessary medical procedures or ones he didn’t perform at all.
A grand jury indictment claims Chesapeake Regional ignored signs for at least nine years that former employee Javaid Perwaiz was sterilizing women when it wasn’t needed, and without the patients’ knowledge, and overlooked documentation that pointed to Perwaiz filing for reimbursement from insurance companies on procedures he never performed.
Perwaiz’s habits racked up $18.5 million worth of reimbursements to the hospital from government-funded insurance programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare, as well as private companies like Optima, Anthem, Cigna and others.
Perwaiz is already serving 59 years in prison for the procedures.
“After Dr. Perwaiz was convicted of performing irreversible hysterectomies and other medically unnecessary surgeries on women, we continued to investigate the role that (Chesapeake Regional) played,” Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release. “As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Perwaiz did not act alone in this conspiracy to needlessly sterilize and otherwise harm women. The Grand Jury found today that (Chesapeake Regional) was complicit in this horrifying scheme to place profits over patient care.”
Chesapeake Regional responded in a press release, saying the claims were unfounded and the indictment was an “excessive overreach.”
“Chesapeake Regional is dedicated to patient safety, prioritizing high-quality care that meets rigorous national standards,” the release said. “Safety protocols are continually monitored to ensure the greatest level of care protecting the health and welfare of patients, families and staff.”
The indictment calls for property forfeiture if Chesapeake Regional is found guilty of medical fraud, meaning the government would take ownership of anything paid for with the money made from the fraud. The court could choose to issue a monetary judgement instead.
That could impact Chesapeake Regional’s ongoing improvements, which include building a psychiatric emergency department and becoming a Level 3 trauma center.
It’s unclear how much a monetary judgement would be for Chesapeake if the hospital were to be found guilty for having a role in $18.5 million worth of false insurance claims. In late 2024, the Inova health system paid $2.3 million for submitting false Medicaid claims and receiving $1.5 million based on those claims.
