Investigation has revealed that a Toronto doctor charged for tens of thousands of tests he never performed, and subjected other patients to scores of unnecessary procedures.
According to critics, the development illustrates weaknesses in the province’s ability to find suspect claims and recover millions lost to those who could be fleece the medical system.
A disciplinary decision has averred that Dr. Ayokunle Fagbemigun was among the top billers in Ontario for several procedures at his second-floor office in North Etobicoke, but never actually acquired the materials to perform many of them.
Unscrupulously, the doctor also reportedly administered to patients several tests they didn’t need, didn’t have documents to back up his decisions to provide them and couldn’t explain why he was drug testing patients as young as nine years old, and offering another patient eight pregnancy tests in a year, even though she was not sexually active.
The Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal in a decision issued in March, said “Dr. Fagbemigun billed for services he did not provide and took referral fees for referrals to a cardiac care provider. He put inaccurate information in patient charts and sent his patients for unnecessary tests that could cause them anxiety, time and inconvenience”.
The decision added that “He did this for his own financial gain, at the cost of his patients’ care and the public health care system. He intentionally received many thousands of dollars to which he was not entitled”.
One of several judgments in the case said investigators with Ontario’s College of Physicians and Surgeons stormed his office in 2018, taking photographs and sweeping up hard drives.
Reports have it that they compared his billing record over four years with his records of ordering supplies to find that he didn’t order enough to perform the procedures he did.
Sadly, of 2,385 pregnancy tests he claimed to have performed, he only bought enough materials for 225, leaving 2,160 unaccounted for. Of 6,085 rapid strep tests he claimed to have performed, he bought enough materials for 125, leaving 5,960 unaccounted for. He claimed to have performed 10,016 drug tests, but only bought materials enough for 75.
The decision said authorities found he billed 42,085 procedures he could not have performed. Analysis of the billings find the total amount of tax dollars that were paid that corresponded to the procedures is between $270,000 and $410,000.
SUPPORT NIGERIAN CANADIAN NEWS
If you like our work and want to keep enjoying what we offer, kindly support us by donating to the Nigerian Canadian News through the button below.
