Daniel Castro, MD, currently lives in Texas but worked at the hospital from 2015-17, according to a Feb. 2 news release from the Justice Department. He allegedly performed functional endoscopic sinus surgeries on patients who did not need the procedure.
He also allegedly billed for surgeries to remove diseased tissue from his patient’s sinuses despite there not being any diseased tissue, according to the Justice Department.
Additionally, he allegedly regularly billed for complex neck dissection surgeries meant to treat cancer when his patients did not have cancer. Lastly, he created fake entries in consultation notes and operative reports to explain the medical necessity of the sinus surgeries, the indictment alleged.
His first court appearance will be Feb. 22 and, if convicted, he could serve up to 10 years in prison for each healthcare fraud charge and up to five years for each false statement charge.
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