Federal agents arrested New York-based colorectal surgeon Boris Sachakov, MD, Wednesday for allegedly defrauding Medicare and other third-party payors out of $3.5 million.

The surgeon often billed for procedures that he didn't perform at Colon and Rectal Care of New York in Brooklyn, where Dr. Sachakov is the owner and sole physician, alleges the U.S. Attorney General's Office. Specifically, the Justice Department is accusing him of fraudulently billing for more than 6,500 procedures over the course of 12 months ending in January 2010.

For example, Dr. Sachakov billed for 200 services, including 85 hemorrhoidectomies, for a single patient between May 2008 and January 2010. For this he billed Medicare $60,020, according to the federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York.

Dr. Sachakov is out of jail after posting a $500,000 bond. On Friday, Dr. Sachakov was seeing patients and unable to comment for this article, his office told Outpatient Surgery Magazine. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told the New York Daily News that Dr. Sachakov "vehemently denies the charges." Mr. Aidala was in court and not available to comment for this article at press time.

If Dr. Sachakov's submitted Medicare claims are valid, he might be the hardest-working man in proctology. "In 180 of the 267 days in which Sachakov submitted at least one claim, Sachakov billed for more than 24 hours," says the complaint.

From February 2009 through January 2010, Dr. Sachakov submitted Medicare claims for 6,593 proctological procedures for $3.5 million, the most in the nation. The physician with the next-most proctological procedures billed to Medicare performed only 381 procedures and billed for $247,000, court documents show.

According to court documents filed the day of Dr. Sachakov's arrest, the surgeon, his attorney and the Attorney General's office are in plea negotiations that may avert the need for trial.

Kent Steinriede

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