Lexington Herald Leader Logo

Somerset optometrist claimed to examine patient 61 times in four years, lawsuit alleges | Lexington Herald Leader

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • All News
    • Business
    • Communities
    • Counties
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Lexington
    • Local
    • Most Wanted
    • Nation/World
    • News Photos
    • News Videos
    • Politics
    • Searchable Databases
    • State
    • Watchdog
    • Columns
    • Tom Eblen
    • All Sports
    • UK Sports
    • College Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • High School
    • Horses
    • Kentucky Speedway
    • Lexington Legends
    • Reds
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NASCAR
    • NFL
    • Sports Photos
    • Sports Videos
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Columns
    • Mark Story
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • All UK Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • Baseball
    • Basketball - Men
    • Basketball - Women
    • Recruiting
    • Ex-Cats
    • Football
    • UK Photos
    • UK Videos
    • More UK Sports
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Blog
    • Mark Story
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Restaurants
    • Stage & Dance
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Entertainment Photos
    • Entertainment Videos
    • News Blogs
    • Kentucky Weather
    • Photo Archive
    • Sports Blogs
    • John Clay's Blog
    • High School
    • UK Football
    • UK Men's Basketball
    • UK Women's Basketball
    • Lexington Legends
    • Entertainment Blogs
    • Walter Tunis on Music
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Joel Pett
    • Letters to the Editor
    • National Columnists
    • Op-Ed
    • Submit a Letter
    • All Living
    • Celebrations
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Fru-Gal: Deb Morris
    • Health & Medicine
    • Home & Garden
    • Paul Prather
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Readers' Choice
    • Kentucky Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • E-edition
    • Page Reprints
    • Photo Reprints
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Site Information
    • Advertise With Us
    • Archives
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Google+
    • Today's Circulars
    • Classifieds
    • Jobs
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Homeseller
    • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Kentucky

Somerset optometrist claimed to examine patient 61 times in four years, lawsuit alleges

By Bill Estep - bestep@herald-leader.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

May 14, 2013 05:32 PM

A Somerset optometrist and the practice where he works submitted hundreds of fraudulent claims for payments from Medicaid and Medicare, U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey's office has alleged in a lawsuit.

Many of the examinations Dr. Philip Robinson claimed to have performed were unnecessary, the lawsuit claims. Robinson works at Associates in Eye Care P.S.C., and provided eye-health services to nursing home residents.

On 271 occasions between January 2007 and January 2012, Robinson said he examined 50 or more patients in a day, the lawsuit said. On 11 of those days, Robinson claimed he saw more than 100 patients, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday.

The lawsuit said it would have been impossible to correctly perform that many exams. To perform the number of services Robinson claimed on March 22, 2007, under accepted guidelines, he would have needed to be at the nursing home more than 20 hours, the complaint said.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

In the last six months of 2008, Robinson submitted more claims to Medicaid and Medicare than any other optometrist in the nation, the complaint said.

Robinson went to the nursing homes every four to six weeks and claimed to examine all or most of the residents, which was not necessary, Harvey's office said in the lawsuit. He submitted claims for examining one resident of a Somerset nursing home 61 times in four years, the lawsuit said.

In 2011 alone, Medicare reimbursements for the work Robinson said he performed totaled more than $400,000, the lawsuit said.

The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of money in the form of reimbursement to the government and fines of between $5,500 and $11,000 for each false claim.

An attorney for Associates in Eye Care, Jennifer L. Wintergerst, said the company and Robinson "vehemently dispute" the allegations in the lawsuit.

Robinson is the only optometrist seeing patients in several nursing homes in 10 counties, and many of them need to be closely monitored because of age and health conditions, so his high caseload is to be expected, Wintergerst said.

"His focus has always been to treat these patients as he would hope his loved ones would be treated," Wintergerst said.

Associates in Eye Care has offices in Somerset, Whitley City, Williamsburg and Albany, according to its website.

  Comments  

Videos

Coal town’s energy project lands $200,000 donation

Live in this Kentucky county? The sheriff says don’t call his office for help.

View More Video

Trending Stories

Pazzo’s, Magee’s Bakery, Texas de Brazil, Sonic, Qdoba and more on probation

February 15, 2019 06:45 AM

Updated list of restaurants on probation as of February: Read before you eat

February 15, 2019 07:00 AM

‘She has to come home.’ Here’s how you can help find missing Kentucky mom

February 15, 2019 03:03 PM

UK student got a chance to win $19,000 with a half-court shot. He nailed it.

February 16, 2019 12:41 PM

A new $12 million school scheduled to open last fall is sitting empty. Here’s why.

February 15, 2019 03:12 PM

Read Next

Latest News

Nonprofit sues Kentucky over Medicaid reimbursement rates

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 16, 2019 01:54 PM

Passport Health Plan has filed a lawsuit alleging that drastic state cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates will result in the nonprofit going out of business by March.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE KENTUCKY

Business

How college kids use food pantries to help food insecurity

February 16, 2019 01:16 PM

Business

Widow of Kentucky worker files lawsuit against utility

February 16, 2019 11:17 AM

Kentucky

Guard fired, inmate charged following accidental release

February 16, 2019 10:50 AM
Updated list of restaurants on probation as of February: Read before you eat

Restaurant News & Reviews

Updated list of restaurants on probation as of February: Read before you eat

February 15, 2019 07:00 AM
Tempers flared. Tears flowed. Men shouldn’t have sex? KY House passes abortion bill.

Politics & Government

Tempers flared. Tears flowed. Men shouldn’t have sex? KY House passes abortion bill.

February 15, 2019 04:20 PM
So why was Ben Franklin famous? Kentuckians flunk test of U.S. history knowledge.

Kentucky

So why was Ben Franklin famous? Kentuckians flunk test of U.S. history knowledge.

February 15, 2019 03:55 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Lexington Herald Leader App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Local Deals
  • Digital Solutions
  • Media Kit
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story