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Earth Child


Registered: 12/16/10
Posts: 3,473
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Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list
#14046626 - 03/01/11 01:52 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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A Rhode Island doctor charged with fraud, money laundering and illegally distributing controlled drugs has made the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ 10 Most Wanted list, agency officials announced.
Tarek W. Wehbe, 46, has been a fugitive since he failed to show up for a court appearance in 2008 for a 152-count indictment that accused him of billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies $2.9 million for drugs he never bought, office visits that never happened and treatments that were never administered.
The DHHS list, posted online at http://oig.hhs.gov/fugitives/ by the agency’s office of inspector general, includes suspects connected to investigations in Florida, California, Michigan and New York City. Wehbe is the only New England case on the list.
The nearly-$3-million figure, the types of drugs involved and the large number of them led to his inclusion in the infamous group.
“For us in New England, he’s a priority,” said Susan J. Waddell, special agent in charge of New England for the DHHS’s inspector general’s office.
The DHHS’s investigators currently have about 170 active fugitive cases, said Donald White, a spokesman for the agency’s inspector general’s office. The agency uses the list to expose the range of cases it works on, he said, as well as ones with large dollar amounts. The list can generate leads, he said, and White said the agency was asking anyone with information about Wehbe to call 1-888-476-4453.
Wehbe, who ran a practice called Renaissance Medical Group with offices in Providence and North Providence, is accused of writing prescriptions for medications such as Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin in excess of what his practice would have needed. Those drugs are valuable on the street. When the complaint against him was filed in 2008, the government’s estimate was that OxyContin was selling for between 50 cents and $1 per milligram, making an 80-milligram tablet worth $80. Tablets of Vicodin, the government said, typically sold for $4 to $6.
The affidavit supporting the complaint included a statement by one of Wehbe’s patients, identified as “JM,” who said that Wehbe was known on the street as “Dr. Feel Good.”
Wehbe was also charged with billing for excessive office visits, in some cases claiming 30 or more hours a day.
His practice started unraveling in December 2006, when state and federal investigators raided Renaissance’s offices. At the time, he employed five to seven other doctors as well as a nurse practitioner. Between 2002 and 2006, federal investigators said, the practice treated about 8,000 patients, around 4,800 of them Wehbe’s.
Records seized in the raid showed that Wehbe’s records of purchases of chemotherapy drugs didn’t match what he’d billed insurance companies. State health officials at the time said that could have been an instance of conventional billing fraud or worse, an indication that Wehbe was not giving cancer patients the medications they thought they were getting.
In April 2008, those findings prompted the state to suspend Wehbe’s medical license without a hearing, which state law only allows in cases when a physician is deemed to be an immediate danger to the public.
http://www.projo.com/news/content/WEHBE_TOP_TEN_03-01-11_GTMOGCC_v39.17873c0.html
-------------------- Life is too short for this sorrow. You may be here today and gone tomorrow.
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withoutawire
hi


Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 11,384
Loc: Honolulu, Hawaii
Last seen: 7 months, 16 days
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: Earth Child]
#14046819 - 03/01/11 03:28 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
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demon6fire
Hello


Registered: 05/02/08
Posts: 364
Loc: IL
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: withoutawire]
#14048503 - 03/01/11 01:21 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
withoutawire said: Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
Are you kidding? Did you even read the story? Hopefully the dirtbag gets caught.
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fapjack
Title



Registered: 07/26/07
Posts: 16,574
Loc: Central New Jersey
Last seen: 3 years, 10 months
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: demon6fire]
#14048533 - 03/01/11 01:27 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Yeah he was a thief, I don't really give a shit if he gets caught or not though, its going to cost us a more than what he stole to keep him locked up.
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withoutawire
hi


Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 11,384
Loc: Honolulu, Hawaii
Last seen: 7 months, 16 days
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: fapjack] 1
#14048564 - 03/01/11 01:35 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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I really don't give a shit. the system is so flawed that people like this deserve to get away when they can because we won't see how horrible it is until drastic things happen.
I hope he is enjoying wine on a beach in portugal or southern spain living the high life.
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TNK
Pleasures of Africa



Registered: 01/30/10 
Posts: 14,237
Loc: I AM THUNDERBOT
Last seen: 1 month, 18 days
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: withoutawire]
#14048766 - 03/01/11 02:16 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
an indication that Wehbe was not giving cancer patients the medications they thought they were getting.
Yeah, this guy is the guy that deserves to get away and live happily on some beach.
Edited by TNK (03/01/11 02:17 PM)
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muistrue
Inspired by the mystery


Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 12,899
Loc: Behind the Redwoods
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: demon6fire]
#14049063 - 03/01/11 03:12 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
demon6fire said:
Quote:
withoutawire said: Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
Are you kidding? Did you even read the story? Hopefully the dirtbag gets caught.
He was stealing money from insurance companies and pills, who give's a fuck. He probably has a new identity now and if he stays smart he'll get away with it.
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demon6fire
Hello


Registered: 05/02/08
Posts: 364
Loc: IL
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: muistrue]
#14049665 - 03/01/11 04:50 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
FractalDust said:
Quote:
demon6fire said:
Quote:
withoutawire said: Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
Are you kidding? Did you even read the story? Hopefully the dirtbag gets caught.
He was stealing money from insurance companies and pills, who give's a fuck. He probably has a new identity now and if he stays smart he'll get away with it.
Quote:
State health officials at the time said that could have been an instance of conventional billing fraud or worse, an indication that Wehbe was not giving cancer patients the medications they thought they were getting.
And to not care that he is stealing from medicare and medicaid is just being stupid. You realize your taxes fund those programs, and him stealing from them directly leads to your taxes being raised?
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muistrue
Inspired by the mystery


Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 12,899
Loc: Behind the Redwoods
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: demon6fire]
#14049955 - 03/01/11 05:38 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
demon6fire said: And to not care that he is stealing from medicare and medicaid is just being stupid. You realize your taxes fund those programs, and him stealing from them directly leads to your taxes being raised?
Still not enough for me to wish prison on ole Dr. Feelgood. And like someone mentioned locking him up will cost the taxpayers substantially more than anything he's done.
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Funkjunkie
Stranger

Registered: 05/28/09
Posts: 71
Last seen: 11 years, 9 months
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: muistrue]
#14051382 - 03/01/11 09:44 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Probably stole just enough to pay pack the interest from the colleges he owes his md too. My taxes ,on a whole, go to way worse things than this guys exploitation of the system
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withoutawire
hi


Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 11,384
Loc: Honolulu, Hawaii
Last seen: 7 months, 16 days
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: demon6fire]
#14051950 - 03/01/11 11:06 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
demon6fire said:
Quote:
FractalDust said:
Quote:
demon6fire said:
Quote:
withoutawire said: Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
Are you kidding? Did you even read the story? Hopefully the dirtbag gets caught.
He was stealing money from insurance companies and pills, who give's a fuck. He probably has a new identity now and if he stays smart he'll get away with it.
Quote:
State health officials at the time said that could have been an instance of conventional billing fraud or worse, an indication that Wehbe was not giving cancer patients the medications they thought they were getting.
And to not care that he is stealing from medicare and medicaid is just being stupid. You realize your taxes fund those programs, and him stealing from them directly leads to your taxes being raised?
360 million people in united states compared to what I have to pay taxes for because he beat the system.
I don't give a shit. If he can do it and it doesn't effect me very much then more power to him. It is such a corrupt system that shit like this needs to happen before people realize how flawed it is. '
You have to spend money/energy/time commitment to change horribly corrupt systems. There are a lot more important things than my $8.
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learningtofly
Ancient Aliens



Registered: 05/21/07
Posts: 15,105
Loc: Out of this world
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: Funkjunkie]
#14052522 - 03/02/11 01:20 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
fapjack said: Yeah he was a thief, I don't really give a shit if he gets caught or not though, its going to cost us a more than what he stole to keep him locked up.
unless he's in prison for 100 years then no.Quote:
FractalDust said:
Quote:
demon6fire said:
Quote:
withoutawire said: Hopefully he was smart, fled to canada, and then europe or cape horn and is starting over.
That is what I would do at least.
Are you kidding? Did you even read the story? Hopefully the dirtbag gets caught.
He was stealing money from insurance companies and pills, who give's a fuck. He probably has a new identity now and if he stays smart he'll get away with it.
he's stealing tax dollars dudeQuote:
Funkjunkie said: Probably stole just enough to pay pack the interest from the colleges he owes his md too. My taxes ,on a whole, go to way worse things than this guys exploitation of the system
3 million dollars in interest?
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Capers
Man About Town


Registered: 08/15/10
Posts: 16,200
Loc: United States
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: learningtofly]
#14055519 - 03/02/11 04:13 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Good, for Dr. Feel Good. I hope he maintains a life of freedom and enjoyment.
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learningtofly
Ancient Aliens



Registered: 05/21/07
Posts: 15,105
Loc: Out of this world
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: Capers]
#14055728 - 03/02/11 04:54 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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can someone please explain to me how his actions can be justified?
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Rabid Jelly Bean
Stranger



Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 411
Loc: TX
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
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Re: Rhode Island doctor makes ‘most wanted’ list [Re: learningtofly]
#14057372 - 03/02/11 10:11 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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30 hours in a single day? What a great way to get caught.
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