NORFOLK, Va. — A lawyer for Chesapeake Regional Medical Center entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday to federal charges related to the hospital's relationship with a now-convicted doctor.
This comes about three weeks after a grand jury indicted the hospital on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and interference with government functions.
Prosecutors say the hospital was complicit in crimes committed by Javaid Perwaiz, who was arrested in 2019 for performing unnecessary gynecological surgeries on women, as well as submitting fictitious claims to health care benefit programs for reimbursement.
Chesapeake
Grand jury indictment of Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
According to prosecutors, CRMC granted Perwaiz privileges from 1984 until his arrest in 2019, despite knowing that his privileges were terminated at another hospital for performing unnecessary surgeries and that he was convicted of two federal felonies in 1996.
Prosecutors claim that CRMC allegedly received $18.5 million in reimbursements for the surgeries Perwaiz performed and states that he did not act alone.
“As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Perwaiz did not act alone in this conspiracy to needlessly sterilize and otherwise harm women. The grand jury found that CRMC was complicit in this horrifying scheme to place profits over patient care,” said Jessica D. Aber. Aber was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia when the indictment came down, but has since resigned.
Watch: Dr. Perwaiz sentenced to 59 years
Authorities allege that some surgeries he performed were not medically necessary, were performed without consent, and, in some cases, were not performed at all. They also allege that he submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Sentara Optima, and other health care benefit programs.
When performing the surgeries, Perwaiz allegedly submitted flowsheets with an accurate due date and another fabricated sheet with the patient at 39 weeks or further in gestation.
It is alleged that CRMC employees and practitioners were aware of the discrepancies but allowed Perwaiz to continue these practices and continued billing for them.
Watch previous coverage of the trial of Dr. Perwaiz
Perwaiz was convicted of 52 counts of health care fraud and false statements in health care matters and sentenced to 59 years in prison in November 2020.
Tuesday CRMC lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case.
They also issued a statement after the hearing:
“As we have maintained from the outset, the government’s case is unfounded and an excessive overreach and we are confident we will prevail in court.”
CRMC lawyers previously issued the following statement when the charges were first announced:
"With great disappointment, we learned today that charges were returned against Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. We look forward to an opportunity to rebut these unfounded charges in court and are confident that the legal process will result in Chesapeake's exoneration."
Another hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
We will continue to follow this case.
