[00:00.0 - 00:05.2] A Fort Worth osteopath who attempted to incinerate clinic records has been sentenced to 10 years [00:05.2 - 00:11.1] in federal prison for his role in a $10 million healthcare fraud, announced acting U.S. attorney [00:11.1 - 00:14.4] for the Northern District of Texas Prereq Shah. [00:14.4 - 00:19.2] Mark Cooper, the 43-year-old owner of the Texas Center for Orthopedic and Spinal Disorders [00:19.2 - 00:24.0] – TCOSD, was indicted in June 2020.
[00:24.0 - 00:28.8] Three months later, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. [00:28.8 - 00:33.1] He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Reed C.
O'Connor. [00:33.1 - 00:38.8] According to plea papers, Mr. Cooper admitted he conspired with his wife, Melissa Cooper, [00:38.8 - 00:45.5] and a TCOSD physical therapist, Travis Cooey, to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare.
[00:45.5 - 00:50.1] The defendant admitted he fraudulently billed insurers for services the clinic never actually [00:50.1 - 00:55.6] rendered, including physical therapy and psychotherapy, and required patients to attend these bogus [00:55.6 - 01:01.2] appointments in order to receive Schedule II controlled substance prescriptions. [01:01.2 - 01:06.0] He also admitted that he gave his wife access to the secure device and passcode he used [01:06.0 - 01:11.4] to sign controlled substance prescriptions, allowing her to improperly dispense pain medications [01:11.4 - 01:14.6] on her own initiative, without his input. [01:14.6 - 01:20.1] In plea papers, Mr.
Cooper acknowledged that he submitted claims stating that TCOSD had [01:20.1 - 01:25.1] developed individualized physical therapy plans of care for each patient, knowing full [01:25.1 - 01:29.3] well that the clinic had simply issued a boilerplate template, and for one-on-one [01:29.3 - 01:33.6] physical therapy, even though the patients were actually meeting in groups with an athletic [01:33.6 - 01:37.8] trainer who was not qualified to perform physical therapy. [01:37.8 - 01:42.8] Mr. Cooper further admitted that although he billed insurers for professional 60-minute [01:42.8 - 01:48.2] psychotherapy sessions, most patients actually spoke with unqualified professionals for just [01:48.2 - 01:53.7] 15 to 20 minutes, often when Mr.
Cooper was out of the office. [01:53.7 - 01:58.2] On multiple occasions, Mr. Cooper billed as though he'd provided more than 100 hours [01:58.2 - 02:02.5] work in a single 24-hour day.
[02:02.5 - 02:08.4] From 2014 to 2018, he submitted more than $10 million in claims to Medicaid, Medicare, [02:08.4 - 02:09.7] and TRICARE. [02:09.7 - 02:16.2] As the scheme unraveled, Ms. Cooper attempted to destroy TCOSD documents in an outdoor fireplace [02:16.2 - 02:17.5] at their home.
[02:17.5 - 02:22.4] The blaze destroyed their residence, but firefighters were able to recover some of the charred records [02:22.5 - 02:24.1] from the outdoor fireplace. [02:24.1 - 02:29.2] Mr. Cooper also tried to cover up evidence of the fraud by accessing hundreds of electronic [02:29.2 - 02:35.4] patient records and altering the purported treatment notes to make them appear more comprehensive.
[02:35.4 - 02:40.9] Both Ms. Cooper and Mr. Cooey pleaded guilty in September 2020 to conspiracy to commit [02:40.9 - 02:42.4] health care fraud.
[02:42.4 - 02:46.1] They were sentenced to 18 months and 36 months, respectively. [02:46.1 - 02:51.8] A civil investigation into TCOSD began, and after whistleblower Richard Brown filed a [02:51.8 - 02:56.5] cuitem suite on alleging that Dr. Cooper was committing fraud through his clinic.
[02:56.5 - 03:01.9] On May 29, 2020, the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a complaint [03:01.9 - 03:07.5] in partial intervention against Dr. Cooper, Mr.
Cooey, and Dr. Cooper's clinic. [03:07.5 - 03:11.8] The government's False Claims Act complaint alleged that Dr.
Cooper submitted fraudulent [03:11.8 - 03:17.0] claims for physical therapy, psychotherapy, and pain injection services to federal health [03:17.0 - 03:18.8] care programs. [03:18.8 - 03:23.3] In addition to his guilty plea, Dr. Cooper and his clinic agreed to settle the False [03:23.3 - 03:28.9] Claims Act lawsuit by entry of an agreed judgment against Dr.
Cooper and his clinic in the amount [03:28.9 - 03:34.0] of $1,192,220. [03:34.0 - 03:38.9] As part of the settlement, Dr. Cooper also agreed to liquidate his real estate portfolio [03:38.9 - 03:42.1] and other assets to satisfy the civil judgment.
[03:42.1 - 03:47.6] The whistleblower, Richard Brown, will receive 17% of the government's recovery. [03:47.6 - 03:52.4] The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative [03:52.4 - 03:58.4] Service, and the Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a division of the Texas Attorney General's [03:58.4 - 04:04.2] Office, conducted the investigation with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration's [04:04.2 - 04:06.7] Dallas Field Division. [04:06.7 - 04:12.0] Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Lindsey Barron and Steve Fahey, NDTX Criminal Chief, prosecuted [04:12.0 - 04:14.0] the criminal case. [04:14.0 - 04:18.5] Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Giltonen and Kimberly McCoy handled the False Claims [04:18.5 - 04:20.7] Act case for the United States.
[04:20.7 - 04:23.5] Source www.justice.gov
