A jury found Laura Perryman, 55, guilty of one count of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud. The case stemmed from a neurostimulator device that targeted peripheral nerves and was sold for $16,000 each. Physicians originally struggled to comfortably fit the receiver component, so Stimwave released a smaller part that was later discovered to be nonfunctional.
The new “dummy” part for the device, called the StimQ PNS System, was made of plastic and did not work as a receiver, according to a Justice Department news release.
The scheme cost Medicare and other insurers thousands of dollars in reimbursements for inoperable devices.
