Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - December 16, 2008
Jay Weaver, jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
From behind bars, Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto took out an ad in El Nuevo Herald urging fellow physicians, patients and friends to write letters for leniency to a federal judge who revoked her bond after a jury convicted her of Medicare fraud in October.
"My liberty was incorrectly taken away," the ad's headline read.
On Wednesday, the 54-year-old physician, found guilty along with a nurse of billing Medicare for $11 million in bogus HIV therapy claims, will learn her punishment.
Alvarez-Jacinto and the nurse, Sandra Mateos, worked in a Miami clinic that was a front for a trio of Cuban immigrant brothers who masterminded a $119 million scam against the nation's health insurance program before fleeing to Cuba last June.
The brothers controlled a dozen Miami-Dade clinics that billed Medicare for obsolete HIV infusion treatments that were either unnecessary or not provided to HIV patients, who received kickbacks.
Prosecutors have recommended that U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno send Alvarez-Jacinto to prison for 22 years, which would be one of the harshest penalties for a Medicare fraud defendant since the U.S. attorney's office and Justice Department teamed up to crack down on government healthcare corruption last year.
Prosecutors recommended up to 10 years in prison for Mateos, the ex-wife of one of the three Cuban brothers. Mateos is divorced from Luis Benitez, wanted by the FBI on Medicare fraud charges along with his brothers, Carlos and Jose Benitez.
The brothers, whose ill-gotten Medicare millions were invested in real estate and other properties in the Dominican Republic, are now in jail in Havana on immigration violations, according to federal authorities. Meanwhile, FBI agents and Dominican police have been seizing their assets.
Alvarez-Jacinto was indicted along with six other healthcare providers on charges of defrauding Medicare by filing false claims for HIV infusion treatments at St. Jude Rehab Center Inc., 330 SW 27th Ave.
Her father, Dr. Orestes Alvarez-Jacinto, brought her to work at the clinic in 2003. He pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud charges last year and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
This is how the scam worked: The Benitez brothers recruited the HIV patients to come to St. Jude by paying them $150 for each visit. The clinic's physicians prescribed the same treatment for all the patients, regardless of their medical diagnosis. In turn, St. Jude billed Medicare for an expensive HIV infusion drug called WinRho, made from human plasma. The drug is only medically necessary for HIV patients with low blood platelets.
But none of St. Jude's patients had platelets low enough to require the drug, according to experts who testified at trial.
So the costly treatment -- paid for by U.S. taxpayers -- wasn't necessary. And according to prosecutors, it wasn't always administered to the patients.
The father-and-daughter medical team was trained by a physician's assistant, Thomas McKenzie, who worked for the Benitez brothers' chain of clinics. McKenzie, 53, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities, is to be sentenced on Thursday. He faces up to 14 years in prison.
In her defense, Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto testified she was unaware that St. Jude was a fraudulent front for the Benitez brothers to rip off Medicare.
In her ad that ran in El Nuevo Herald last month, she declared: "I am innocent of the charges filed against me."
She urged fellow physicians, patients and others to come to her aid for the sentencing, including writing letters of support to the judge.
Among the 40 letter writers in the court records: her former husband.
"I plead to you, for the sake of Ana, Kathrine [our daughter] and Ana's patients to please consider my request to give Ana a chance," said Dr. Lawrence R. Brown, an oral surgeon with a practice in Miami-Dade.
081216
MH081205
Copyright © 2008 - Miami Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Miami Herald, Permissions, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 TEL: (305) 376-3719. http://www.herald.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .