Warning Shot Fired Across Chiropractor’s Bow
By Robert Warne - April 30, 2003A work comp fraud case against a chiropractor opened by the Department of Insurance (DOI) in 1996 came to a close April 29 in Santa Rosa. Buried in felony insurance fraud charges, somehow the chiropractor managed to dig himself out and only get his hands dirty.
William Schrader, the chiropractor in question during the last six years successfully fended off 20 felony counts of insurance fraud. As a result of his efforts, prosecutors allowed him to plea no contest to a single misdemeanor count of violating the state Business and Professions Code by offering an inducement to another person to refer patients to his clinic.
Even though at his July 11 sentence hearing he could be ordered to spend a year in prison forced to repay thousands of dollars to the state, he will still be allowed to retain his chiropractor’s license.
Reds flags started flying over Schrader’s Tree of Life chiropractic clinic when adjusters noticed they had received large number of suspicious invoices from him.
To get a closer look into his operation, investigators infiltrated Schrader’s business, posing as injured workers.
They discovered that Schrader routinely overcharged for treatment and billed State Fund for services never performed and was guilty of capping.
Schrader pulled out of a plea deal in 1999 that would have pinned him with two misdemeanor counts and one felony charge, because it would have cost him his license, according to The Press Democrat.
Because it would have been difficult to prove that Schrader knew the undercover agents didn’t really have back injures when he treated them at his clinic, the Sonoma County Chief Deputy District Attorney opted for misdemeanor charge offer just before going to trial.
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