CHESAPEAKE — On Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged a hospital in Chesapeake with health care fraud and conspiracy in connection with surgeries one of its former doctors did that were not necessary.
The indictment says that from 1984 until his arrest in 2019, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center gave Dr. Javaid Perwaiz privileges even though they knew that another hospital had taken those privileges away because he was performing unnecessary surgeries and that he had been convicted of two federal felonies in 1996.
The charging document also says that the medical center, which used to be called Chesapeake Regional Hospital, made about $18.5 million from treatments that Perwaiz did from 2010 to 2019.
An OB/GYN was tried for three weeks in U.S. District Court in Norfolk in November 2020 and found guilty of 52 crimes by a federal jury. Perwaiz, who is 74 years old now, was given a 59-year prison term.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber said in a statement, “After Dr. Perwaiz was found guilty of giving women permanent hysterectomies and other medically unnecessary surgeries, we continued to look into the role that CRMC played.” “As the indictment says, Dr. Perwaiz was not the only one involved in this plot to harm women and sterilize them for no reason.” This morning, the grand jury found that CRMC was involved in this horrible plan to put money ahead of patient care.
The charge says that from at least January 2010 to November 2019, the hospital and others allegedly let Perwaiz do surgeries, procedures, and early deliveries of babies that were not his own, which was against the law. He also allegedly cheated different health care benefit programs.
Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, said, “These new charges are the next step toward justice for the women who were greatly affected by Perwaiz’s predatory behavior as well as the hospital’s negligence.” “The hospital put making money ahead of the safety of many of their patients, many of whom trusted them completely to give good medical care.”
In a statement released Thursday, hospital officials said they did nothing wrong and that the center is committed to patient safety and providing excellent care.
“Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is aware that its hospital, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, is being sued today.” The company thinks the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s claims are false and go too far. It will give a fuller response in court through its outside lawyer, Oberheiden P.C., the statement said.
“Chesapeake Regional cares deeply about patient safety and gives top-notch care that meets strict national standards.” Safety rules are always being checked to make sure that the highest level of care is given while protecting the health and well-being of patients, their families, and staff.
According to the indictment, Perwaiz often scheduled unnecessary early births at the hospital on Saturdays, when he was already due to have surgery.
To make more money, Maureen Dixon, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said in a statement, “CRMC knowingly ignored patient care and allowed Dr. Perwaiz’s unnecessary surgeries.”
The accusation also says that the hospital knew Perwiz was wrongly labeling surgeries on inpatients as surgeries on outpatients but still let him keep doing them. The hospital is also said to have known that some health insurance plans would not pay for inpatient procedures that were done on an outpatient basis, that most private health insurance plans would pay for these procedures at a much lower rate, and that inpatient surgeries need to be looked at more closely.
The hospital also knew that Perwaiz often planned surgeries for the following Saturday late on Friday afternoons. They also knew that he sterilized Medicaid patients without their proper permission, which is what the charges say.
The papers said that Perwaiz was working alone when he asked for permission to work at Chesapeake Regional in 1983. While his application was being processed, Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth told the president of Chesapeake Regional that Perwaiz had lost his privileges there for performing surgeries that were not required.
The indictment says that Chesapeake Regional’s surgery department turned down his application at first but later gave him powers in April 1984.
In 1995, Perwaiz was charged with six felonies of tax theft. The indictment says he pleaded guilty to two counts and admitted to a lot of fraud, such as lying about a Ferrari luxury sports car being an ultrasound machine so he could write it off as a business cost.
The indictment also says that Chesapeake Regional looked at the credentials of its doctors every two years and that Perwaiz’s packet had information about his felony conviction, his previous hospital suspension, and lawsuits for medical malpractice that had been made against him. The hospital kept giving him credentials, though, about every two years from 1984 to 2019, the charge said. It had been five months since his last re-credentialing, in June 2019.
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