NEW YORK – The US Department of Justice said last week that the owner and medical director of a Kentucky pain clinic were sentenced for their roles in a $4 million urine drug testing scheme.
William Lawrence Siefert, the clinic's medical director, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.0 million in restitution, while Timothy Ehn, the clinic's owner, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution.
According to the government, Siefert and Ehn billed Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies for medically unnecessary urine drug tests. Additionally, they used a malfunctioning drug testing machine that generated false positive results incorrectly reporting that patients were using drugs including ecstasy and heroin.
In a statement, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the DOJ's criminal division, said the scheme cost Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurers more than $4 million.
On March 23, 2023, a federal jury convicted Siefert of healthcare fraud, and Ehn of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.