A Joplin doctor is free on a personal recognizance bond after waiving his indictment and pleading guilty to Medicare fraud this morning during a hearing in U. S. District Court in Springfield.
According to the indictment, Iftikhar Ali, 52, who worked in private practice at 2215 E. 32nd from 2009 to 2019 and at 2613 S. Main since April 2019 defrauded Medicare by allowing his employees, including receptionists, fill prescriptions for controlled substances when he was not in the office, including instances where he was not even in the country.
"Ali signed prescriptions for controlled substances before he went on trips and signed blank prescriptions for his employees to use in his absence. The employees then signed paperwork indicating to Medicare that Ali had provided the services."
The example provided by the government involved a patient who received a prescription for hydrocodone at a time when Ali was not in the office.
Judge David P. Rush ordered a pre-sentence investigation. No date has been set for sentencing.
35 comments:
Dr. Ali has been our doctor for many years. He is a hardworking, caring, smart man who has taken excellent care of us. He may have made some mistakes, but he is not a bad person.
With the Medicare system the way that it is, I only see him doing this out of the best of intentions. Dr. Ali is a very kind and caring person. He treats everyone as if no one is above or below him, that is too hard to find in doctors anymore. I pray the guilty plea was taken by mistake and he overcomes this.
Dr Ali is a wonderful doctor and a very caring person! He took care of my Mom for many years and gave her excellent care in very difficult situations because he cares about his patients! He saved Mom’s life more than once. He never brushes you off about any health concern and tries to not only identify the problem, but treats it! Dr Ali is now my doctor, my sister’s doctor and the doctor for many of my friends! I referred all of them to him and they are very pleased with the excellent care he gives them! Dr. Ali has very qualified people in his office and relies on them to supply his patients with refills when he is away. He does not allow them to just give out pre-signed prescriptions without his okay. If he is not allowed to practice, many, many people will be without an excellent doctor who actually cares about them and does everything he can to give them excellent medical care!
Medicare fraud and filling controlled substances while he was out of the country???? Sounds like a great doctor. I hope the prosecute him to the max. However I’m sure he will get a little slap and go Scott free.
PLEASE - WRONG IS WRONG A CRIME IS A CRIME!!! What did he do with all the Money he made from his Illegal SCAM - - Give it to Charity or did he Help Himself and his Family - WAKE UP IDIOTS.
The Medicare System is in need of an Overall, but should Doctors and People - Steal from it just because they can - of course Not!!!
He was all about making Money - - Pre-Signing Prescriptions Sheets - Not meeting with Patients - running a Drug Prescription Ring - - This wasn't for his Patients this was for his Pocket Book - - He needs Jail Time and his License to Practice Revoked. He is know different that a Pusher Standing on the Corner Dispensing Pills for Money - - - NO DIFFERENT...
Dr Ali was my deceased husband Doctor and was a good doctor. But the laws are in place for reasons. He cant pass out scripts via third parties likel that.
And especially not opiates. Knowing he leaves the country at all makes me wonder why he a has a bond only on his signature.. With not even any cash to back it up. For youroonsiderd average person that would be a flight risk. Hmmm
It's no mistake. He is absolutely guilty. He may have seemed like a great doctor but what he was doing was ordering all kinds of unnecessary tests and billing your insurance to line his pockets.
As good of a doctor as he may have been with a good bedside manner, what he did is absolutely against the law and he’s not a stupid man. He knew exactly what he was allowing to go on and for that, he should be prosecuted to the fullest just as anyone else would be. Someone could’ve ended up dying over a receptionist giving out prescriptions for opioids… GREED
SMH
When I went to see him he was always ordering tests. He also would make me wait for hours, and if people came in after my appt time , he would make me wait in the empty room for hours, waiting for tests and to see him. I felt like I never got anything accomplished.
I know his new office manager came in and when staff realized they were not going to be able to do what ever they wanted things changed . Unfortunately the DR is responsible for his staffs actions . But he had staff before that did what ever they wanted and treated patients like they were a burden. Staff now is wonderful and they are trying to clean up messes from previous staff .
What he did is wrong. It is not right that other doctors and patients are expected to follow the law and he believes he is above the law. Patients die when not evaluated appropriately and a receptionist cannot evaluate for a narcotic. Someone could have died. You cannot drink and drive and you cannot give drugs without a license. All who did so should be fined so they all can wake up. They were no different than the drug dealer on the street.
Nowadays Drs have to cover their butts so to speak . What happens if you don’t do that test and the patient suffers from it not being done . First thing is to do no harm . I feel like it was a personal vendetta against the Dr by Previous staff maybe they were fired for their actions and they didn’t like it
Maybe you don’t know the whole story. Dr. Ali was a great doctor and he has done nothing but go out of his way for my mother and many other patients. You would not understand unless you knew this man. Go find somewhere else to be miserable. So quick of you to assume maybe you need to wake up and look at the bigger picture! And no he does not need jail time for making a mistake with good intentions. Jail time is not reasonable. You have no heart! Do not believe just one article as I am not. There’s always many sides to a story and some random article would not complete it. I believe Dr. Ali was just trying to do his best.
Randy, you don't have to make this public. But be wary of some of these comments. My wife, a former employee of Dr. Ali, was asked by him to post his praises here. I have no doubt some of those comments are former employees speaking on his behalf.
I’m confused . By this comment . Your wife was asked to spots his praises ? And the former employees why would they be putting things here . And why would you as the husband post something ?
Yes, she was asked to post about how good of a doctor/person he was, much like the first few comments here.
I'm posting for clarity on some of these suspicious comments. I have nothing bad to say about him other than his shady methods of trying to maintain his character among these allegations.
Randy is there a reason your not posting a copy of the court document you got this information from . Maybe that would shed some light on this .
HE SLAYS SO HARD
i agree he works hard to make sure his patients are taken care of.
In shaa Allah. I hope that’s all he gets. Not a slap, though… maybe just a…. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Wrong is wrong and crime is crime. That is how I know that the Medicare system is wrong for committing crime in the US like they do. They only scam being committed here is our healthcare system and the standards they push. Please, go else where with your how just art thou rhetoric. As for charity, I can guarantee IF there were any personal gain from a charge of the accusations it would have went directly back to charity. If you want to toss these claims around you do not know this man.
This sounds awfully biased. Innocent until PROVEN guilty.
So, where are the charges against the employees that helped the DR get away with these crimes?
You seem first hand knowledge accusations like that "lining his pockets" I'm not aware of poor doctors after 22 yrs practice in Joplin community I'd hope he would order test to find out what is truly wrong! Are you a poor doctor? Sounds vicious and vindictive! I spent 17 yrs in insurance claims and love to audit anyone on here who is throwing stones!
Dr. Ali is the best doctor I ever had. He's kind and always tries to do what's best for the patient. He listens to his patients and discusses treatment options with them instead of just giving orders. I don't know exactly what happened in the incidents he is being accused of, but I know he's a good man. I think one of the other commenters was probably right that it was a former employee who got fired, now trying to get revenge or something similar. Dr. Ali told me he didn't do the things he was being accused of. I will believe that until I see proof otherwise. If he pleaded guilty, it must be for some kind of plea deal.
His new office manager(Misty) is just as much of a joke as Dr Ali! They both do not have anyone but themselves in mind. I hope he gets time in jail for this and not just a slap on the hands. Why this all started back in December 2019 and nothing has been done to him until April 2022 and he has been still able to bill Medicare and Medicaid if a mystery to everyone who use to work for him! And he is telling all of his current patient that he is retiring and that he he was not guilty! (Sent letters out and I did get one) I hope all his past patient family that had a family member die that he was writing control meds for opens a class auction suite against him. He is guilty of more than just what he was charged for. When you have to hire lawyers from Minnesota to New York to help get your charges lowered! Not sure how he can look himself in the mirror each morning knowing what he has done. But one day they both will have to answer for there auction🙏🏻
I use to work for him also and he would have all of his staff post postive stuff about him. I’m sure Misty has posted 2/3 of his postive post. If everyone saw him for what his staff did you would know why he never kept staff for more than. A few months and he hardly keep any staff for more than a year.
That’s what I want to know . Wonder why they aren’t being charged .
I f there is a class action suit I definitely want in on it. I worked for professional honest doctors & he was not one of them. I had to find a new doctor because of his selfishness.
I used to work for him also. About 6 years ago. Thought Dr ali was a nice doctor.. always told me how good of a job I did for him and his office. But some of his employees aka tess and the office manager didn't like me for some reason. Always we're very hard to get along with ... So he fired me a week before Christmas ... Knowing I had two little girls ... Literally fired me for no reason. Just a couple of jealous females. But despite all 9f that. I think he's a good doctor .. just money hungry .. but what doctor isn't ?
This is a joke , I know Misty personally from working with her for more than 15 years . She’s a straight shooter which some people think is rude but she wants to make sure things are done right and the patients are taken care of. So I can only assume you are one of those that didn’t get your way and was called out on it . I know if you have any questions or concerns you can reach out to Misty and she will always answer you . May not be what you want to hear but you can can on it being correct.
Dr. Ali has been my physician for many years, along with many members of my family. He is an excellent doctor. I firmly believe that had he had known that what he was doing was considered fraudulent he wouldn't have Done this. Additionally why wouldn't those employees who did it say, im not sure we should be doing this, I can assure you dr. Ali would have listened. And no, I am not related nor have I ever worked for him. But I trust him. I can also assure you that if anyone thinks he's making money off of Medicare and Medicaid or any other insurance you're wrong. All of these insurances including the government Medicare and Medicaid utilize a payment set up called a fee schuedule and won't pay you any more than that. AND its usually about 1/4 of what a doctor charges, then in most contracts the doctor has to write off the rest. I think the whistle blowers who worked for him are the ones wanting to make money and have a issue with Doctor. I personally observed how unprofessional and rude they were both to customers and to the doctor. I think they even fabricated evidence. You finally find a doctor who has compassion and cares about his patients and then the former staff cause this to happen....you know when you work for a practice the physician is the Boss, not you.....I hope his sentence is light and will be back soon.
I was Dr. Ali's patient since 2013. The only complaint I have is the long wait to see him.
As a Doctor, he is second to none. I am hoping I can find a doctor as Knowledgeable, Compassionate and Helpful as Dr Ali. I am not optomistic i will find one. Dr. Ali is one in a million who actually cares for his patients!
He almost killed me more than once
Taylor I do believe you were fired for incompetence & no show/ no call
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