Doctor blows the whistle on dermatology office's alleged Medicare fraud

Dec. 02--A Minnesota dermatologist and his practice are paying $850,000 to settle allegations of falsely billing Medicare for dermatology procedures, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The whistle-blower formerly was a physician in the practice, the office said.

Federal and state prosecutors took Skin Care Doctors and its president and CEO, Dr. Michael Ebertz, to court, alleging they submitted false claims. Skin Care Doctors has locations in Burnsville, Edina, Orono and St. Cloud.

"Medicare is a public trust. This resolution against both the company and its CEO safeguards that trust and restores needed funds to Medicare," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Bildsten said in a statement. "This office is committed to taking necessary actions to rectify inflated billing to federal programs."

A statement provided by a Minneapolis law firm said that the agreement reflected a "business decision" by Skin Care Doctors and Ebertz to settle the matter in order to avoid the uncertainty and expense of litigation while continuing to serve their patients.

The statement further said that while Ebertz and his practice cooperated with authorities in resolving the matter, they "deny all the allegations" asserted by prosecutors and the whistle-blower.

Skin Care Doctors and Ebertz were accused of billing for free samples of a phototherapy drug and improperly billing for office visits, lesion removal procedures, and phototherapy services between 2008 and 2015, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The physician who brought the allegations to light will share in the recovery. The provision enabling him to, under the False Claims Act, encourages whistle-blowers to "bring fraud schemes to light that might otherwise go undetected," the U.S. attorney's office said.

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