A North Texas doctor has been handed a decade-long prison sentence for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud case. Dr. Daniel Ramiro Canchola of Flower Mound was also ordered to pay upwards of $34 million in restitution. The punishment results from Dr. Canchola partaking in a scheme that fraudulently charged Medicaid for more than $54 million.
The Texas Attorney General's Office released details of the case, which was uncovered by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), pinpointing Dr. Canchola for writing fraudulent prescriptions for durable medical equipment and cancer genomic tests. According to the Attorney General, “Fraud schemes like this erode trust in our health care system and exploit hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
Investigations revealed the troubling practices between August 2018 and April 2019, in which Dr. Canchola received illegal kickbacks for authorizing equipment and tests for patients he never actually met. These incidents were often part of telemarketing campaigns and health fairs that took advantage of government healthcare beneficiaries and involved them in unnecessary and costly medical procedures.
The collaborative effort to bring Dr. Canchola to justice involved Sergeant Michelle Killinger, Captain Justin Boyce, and Investigative Auditor Jennifer Pernell-Blakely of Attorney General Paxton’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Their work, in concert with HHS-OIG and the DOJ Health Care Fraud Strike Force, underlines an ongoing effort to protect the integrity of public healthcare programs. Over the past three years, MFCU has recovered more than $612 million in settlements, judgments, and restitution for the taxpayers of Texas. This unit is majorly funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, receiving a grant award totaling $20,944,200 for fiscal year 2023, according to the same press release.
