North Fork Doc Accused Of Kickbacks For Unnecessary Brain Scans: DOJ

NORTH FORK, NY — A well-known Mattituck doctor was charged Monday in federal court in Boston for reportedly receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans, according to the United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusettts.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Vishnudat Seodat, 75, of Mattituck, was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the DOJ said.

A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the court.

According to the charging documents, Seodat, an internist on Long Island, was a licensed medical doctor in the State of New York for approximately 36 years.

From about June 2013 through December 2019, Seodat is reported to have conspired with others, including a principal for a mobile medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks, the DOJ said.

TCD scans are brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain. It was further alleged that Seodat and his co-conspirators used false diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which a co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies, including private insurance companies, on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment, the DOJ said.

In exchange, Seodat was paid cash kickbacks of approximately $100 per test — according to the charging documents, the scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of about $1 million to Medicare and private insurance companies, the DOJ said.

Seodat was aware that TCD Company, for much of the alleged conspiracy period, operated in Massachusetts, the DOJ said.

The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, the DOJ said.

Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. sentencing guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case, the DOJ said.

Neither Seodat nor his attorney Zachary Hafer could immediately be reached for comment.