Fraud probe targets Puerto Rico doctors
By
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
Writer
U.S. federal agents
arrested dozens of doctors accused of obtaining medical licenses through fraud
or bribery, carrying out sweeping raids across Puerto Rico Thursday.
A federal grand
jury indicted 88 doctors following an investigation into members of the U.S.
Caribbean territory's medical licensing board, who allegedly altered
low-scoring tests to certify unqualified candidates.
The doctors, mostly
Puerto Ricans who studied medicine in the Dominican Republic, Mexico or Cuba,
paid board members bribes of as much as $10,000, according to the indictment.
At least 75 were
practicing medicine in Puerto Rico, including some at hospitals or emergency
rooms, authorities said.
The arrests began
near dawn. Some suspects — including Pablo Valentin,
a former executive director of the licensing board — were seen on television
being led away by local police and agents of the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
The Drug Enforcement
Administration also is checking pharmacy records to determine whether the
suspects prescribed medications, which could prompt felony charges as
violations of the Controlled Substances Act, spokesman Waldo Santiago said.
Most of the
suspects failed the licensing exam multiple times. One man who earned a medical
degree in Spain failed the exam 16 times between 1974 and 2001 before he was
granted a medical license in 2002, according to the indictment.
"We cannot
allow doctors who obtained their license in an irregular way to practice
medicine," said Rosa Perez Perdomo, Puerto
Rico's Health Department secretary. "The health of Puerto Ricans has to be
protected at all costs."
She called it
"a very unfortunate situation," but said the fraudulent doctors'
patients would have no shortage of alternatives among legitimate health care
providers in Puerto Rico, where about 10,000 doctors serve a population of 4
million.
At least five U.S.
states recognize Puerto Rican medical licenses — Arizona, Florida, New York,
Texas and Virginia — but Perdomo said none of the
suspects were known to have practiced medicine on the U.S. mainland, according
to Puerto Rico's medical licensing board.
The Arizona Medical
Board said it requires all physicians to pass a U.S. licensing exam before they
are issued a state license.
In many of the
alleged fraud cases, an intermediary would approach a candidate who received a
failing test by mail and offer to connect them with board officials who could
help, authorities said.
Yolanda Rodriguez,
a former board secretary who also was indicted, allegedly received the exams
from the intermediaries, cut-and-pasted passages from passing exams, and
photocopied the doctored exams for submission as authentic versions, according
to court documents.
The defendants face
charges including mail fraud and making false statements to Medicare.
If convicted, most
face prison sentences of five to 20 years, said interim U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez.
The Puerto Rican
legislature has been questioning members of the board as part of a fraud
investigation that began in May.
The board's
president, Milton Carrero, said the federal
indictments have persuaded the board to expand an internal probe as well,
scrutinizing licenses issued before 2001.
"There were
people inside who defrauded the confidence of everyone," said Carrero, who was chosen as president after Puerto Rico's
governor began removing four members for negligence. He said new security
measures have been taken, including the installation of cameras in the room
where medical licenses are kept.
"There is no
doubt that changes at the licensing board are happening and will continue to
happen," Carrero said.
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