Recent California Workers' Comp Convictions Now Total 166 Medical Criminals. Is Anybody Listenin
In San Francisco The State Division of Workers' Compensation - briefly known as the DWC - has sanctioned 7 more medical professionals who were licensed to participate in California's workers' compensation system - and now have been banned from the program. So the total number of providers punished over the last decade is now 166. The practitioners were suspended for committing numerous crimes, but mostly healthcare fraud and drug-dealing. According to DWC Director George Parisotto, punishments were meted out against the following people:
Doctor Alvin Ming Yee of Irvine - convicted in federal court for Illegal Drug Distribution. Yee was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. His medical license was revoked in 2016.
Doctor Boyao Huang of San Marino - found guilty in federal court of Healthcare Fraud. Huang stole more than $1,000,000 from Medicare and MediCal by generating bogus diagnoses of patients and falsely documenting that many were terminally ill, in order to justify bill for hospice-related services. Huang's medical license
Dr Alvin Ming Yee in happier times
was also revoked in 2016.
Pharmacist Matthew Cho of Orange County - convicted in federal court for his role in a Drug Distribution Conspiracy. Cho's pharmacy license was revoked in 2017.
Doctor Eleanor Mela Santiago of Orange County - found guilty in federal court - Conspiracy to Commit Healthcare Fraud. Santiago was a key crook in a prescription drug mill that churned out medically unnecessary OxyContin pills. She also submitted hundreds of bogus billings to Medicare and MediCal for treatments that were unnecessary or never performed. Santiago was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison and ordered to repay nearly $4,000,000 in stolen taxpayer money. She lost her medical license in 2011.
Dr Eleanor Mela Santiago
Physician Assistant David James Garrison of Los Angeles - found guilty in federal court in a Narcotic Substances Conspiracy. Garrison was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and had his medical license revoked in 2015.
Physician Assistant Perry Tan Nguyen of Huntington Beach - convicted in federal court of Evading Legal Reporting Mandates. Nguyen was sentenced to 6 months in prison and lost his pharmacy license in 2017.
David W Fish of Los Angeles - found guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court for his role in a patient kickback scam. Fish organized numerous doctors to manipulate at least 4,000 patients to corrupt medical providers, in order to run up preposterous medical bills. Fish was ordered to repay $10,000 in restitution and nearly $400,000 in unpaid taxes.