Louisiana – In a recent announcement, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans informed the public that Dr. Alex L. Glotser, a 36-year-old resident of Metairie, has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare out of approximately $5.6 million. This fraudulent activity involved the ordering of medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and Cancer Genetic Testing (CGx).
The guilty plea was made in response to a bill of information charging Glotser with health care fraud, as outlined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1347. According to court documents, Glotser worked as an independent contractor for several telemedicine companies. Between September 2017 and August 2019, Glotser, through these companies, authorized thousands of doctors’ orders for DME and CGx tests for Medicare beneficiaries whom he had never personally seen or treated. As a result, Glotser’s fraudulent orders led to over $5.6 million in false claims being submitted to Medicare, with Medicare ultimately reimbursing over $2.4 million.
To hide and perpetuate the fraud, Glotser made numerous false statements to support these orders. This included falsely certifying, in medical records and requisition forms, that he was the beneficiaries’ “treating physician,” and that he had personally examined patients and performed certain in-person procedures for knee braces. Additionally, Glotser claimed that the DME and CGx tests were ordered for the “management” of the patients’ conditions. In exchange for reviewing patient charts electronically and ordering these tests, Glotser received a set fee of $30 per doctor’s order, totaling $270,570.
As a consequence of his actions, Glotser now faces a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison, along with up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain/loss associated with the fraud. Additionally, Glotser is obligated to pay $2,420,100 in restitution to Medicare. The sentencing hearing has been scheduled for January 24, 2024, before Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle.
U.S. Attorney Evans has commended the efforts of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in uncovering this fraudulent scheme. Trial Attorneys Kelly Walters and Samantha Stagias of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Moses, Healthcare Fraud Coordinator for the Eastern District of Louisiana, are prosecuting the case.