Jury: Kentucky doctor not guilty of fraud against health programs
An Eastern Kentucky physician has been acquitted on charges that he defrauded health programs.
A jury in federal court returned the not-guilty verdict on eight counts of health fraud against Dr. Sai P. Gutti of Pikeville after deliberating less than three hours on Wednesday.
Gutti practiced pain management at clinics in Pikeville and other cities in the region before he was indicted in April 2019.
He was charged with billing Medicare and Medicaid for urine tests on patients that were not medically necessary, in order to make more money. One purpose for such tests is to make sure patients are taking medications properly and not selling them illegally.
Gutti’s lead attorney, J. Guthrie True of Frankfort, said the charges should never have been filed.
“The charges were the product of a rush to judgment by the government,” True said.
The charges against Gutti were among enforcement actions against 60 people in several states, most of them medical professionals, that federal authorities announced in April 2019 under the umbrella of the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force, set up to tackle the crippling drug problem in the region.
In Kentucky, five doctors and a dentist were charged.
Unlike most people charged in the roundup, Gutti’s case did not involve alleged improper prescribing or distributing of drugs.
Gutti also is the only person charged in the sweep known to have gone to trial and been acquitted, True said.
The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure suspended Gutti’s medical license in May 2019 because of the charges. Gutti will seek to have that suspension lifted, True said.
“Pike County and the entire Eastern Kentucky community is fortunate to have such a faithful servant of the people as Dr. Sai Gutti,” True said.
The other medical professionals charged in Kentucky included Scotty Akers, another Pikeville physician.
After a clinic he operated closed in 2016, Akers kept writing prescriptions for pain drugs to people.
Akers or his wife Serissa, who had been his office manager, made contact with people by telephone or Facebook, and Akers wrote prescriptions for people without examining them.
Akers or his wife met people in their home or in parking lots to deliver prescriptions, charging $50 or $75 in some cases, according to a court record.
The two pleaded guilty to illegally distributing controlled substances. A judge sentenced Akers to five years in prison and his wife to two years and eight months.
