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The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has suspended 12 more medical providers from participating in California’s workers’ compensation system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this year to 85. Nine providers were suspended for fraud or criminal actions and three for administrative reasons.

DWC Administrative Director George Parisotto issued suspension orders against the following providers:

• Paul Richard Randall of Orange, health care marketer and owner of Summit Medical Group, pled guilty in federal court on April 16, 2012 for his role in a spinal surgery kickback scheme. The scheme involved recruiting chiropractors and doctors to refer patients in exchange for illegal kickbacks involving nearly $600 million in fraudulent claims. 
  
  Randall was rearrested on September 25^th 2017 by the FBI via an arrest warrant.  He had been allowed to remain out-of-custody according to his plea agreement in exchange for a set of conditions and his cooperation in an ongoing investigation.  The FBI would not tell adjustercom what violation of the agreement had caused Randall’s arrest on September 25^th.  Randall was the marketer for Pacific Hospital and its owner, Michael Drobot, for more than a decade before Pacific Hospital was sold in October of 2013. 
  
  
• Harold “Harry” Persaud, Westlake, Ohio physician, was found guilty on October 2, 2015 in federal court for health care fraud and money laundering. The charges stem from Persaud’s practice of performing unnecessary catheterizations, tests, and stent insertions and causing unnecessary coronary artery bypass surgeries as part of a scheme to overbill Medicare and private insurers approximately $7.2 million. Persaud was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. His certificate was also revoked by the Medical Board of California on September 1.
• Jeremy Goodwin, Mt. Shasta physician, had his license revoked on September 8 following violation of the terms of his 2014 probation from a prior disciplinary action by the Medical Board of California. Goodwin was charged with gross negligence for his treatment of a patient who died one day after receiving an excessive dosage of the opiate drug fentanyl.
• Christopher Dean Owens, San Francisco physician, had his license revoked on July 21 on findings that include self-administering illicit drugs.
• Guven Uzun, Marina Del Rey physician, had his certificate revoked by the Medical Board of California on July 19 after violating the terms of his 2011 probation due to charges of negligence and falsifying medical records.
• Farhad Hafezi, Covina physician, was found guilty of felony charges of sexual assault involving a minor. He is a registered sex offender. His medical license was revoked by the Medical Board of California in 2014.
• Troy Ericsen Palmer, Chino physician, surrendered his license to the Osteopathic Medical Board of California on April 4 after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.
• Keith Robert Deorio, Santa Monica physician, had his license revoked by the Medical Board of California on July 21 after repeated violations of the Medical Practice Act.
• Christopher Allen Scott, Palm Springs vocational nurse, had his license revoked by the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians in January following findings that include the alleged use of controlled substances.
• John Thomas Moranville, Lafayette physician, had his license revoked by the Medical Board of California on August 18 following an evaluation finding that he suffers from an illness that impairs his ability to practice medicine safely.
• Joseph Struzzo, Cathedral City physician, had his certificate revoked by the Medical Board of California on August 4 following an evaluation finding that he suffers from an illness that impairs his ability to practice medicine safely.
• Adly Ayad Azab, West Covina physician, had his license revoked by the Medical Board of California on August 23 following an evaluation finding that he suffers from an illness that impairs his ability to practice medicine safely.

AB 1244 (Gray and Daly), which went into effect January 1, introduced new changes to the workers’ compensation system and requires the division’s Administrative Director to suspend any medical provider, physician or practitioner from participating in the workers’ compensation system in cases in which one or more of the following is true:

• The provider has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving fraud or abuse of the Medi-Cal or Medicare programs or the workers’ compensation system, fraud or abuse of a patient, or related types of misconduct;
• The provider has been suspended due to fraud or abuse from the Medicare or Medicaid (including Medi-Cal) programs; or
• The provider’s license or certificate to provide health care has been surrendered or revoked.

The Department of Industrial Relation’s (DIR’s) fraud prevention efforts are posted online, including frequently updated lists for physicians, practitioners, and providers who have been issued notices of suspension, and those who have been suspended pursuant to Labor Code §139.21(a)(1). The department recently added a new web page with information on lien consolidations and the Special Adjudication Unit.

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Lonce Lamonte, journalist, lonce@adjustercom.com; with input from Newsline from California's Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Workers' Compensation from the state of California: dir.ca.gov