ASHEVILLE – A retired Asheville doctor will pay back a half-million dollars after facing allegations of Medicare fraud, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Citizen Times.
For 17 years, Steven Mendelsohn, 76, was the sole director and shareholder of Mountain Regional Arthritis Center, a rheumatology practice in Asheville, the settlement says. Mendelsohn was the only physician at the clinic, which billed the Medicare Program for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. This included prescription drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina alleges Mendelsohn submitted reimbursement claims to Medicare for immunosuppressive drugs used to treat arthritis patients that were not purchased from a licensed or authorized drug distributor…