Posted on: Saturday, March 17, 2001
Wahiawa doctor pleads guilty to fraud charges
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A doctor who saw an estimated 70 to 100 elderly and low-income patients per day at his Wahiawa clinic and who for years overbilled the Hawai'i Medical Service Association and the Hawai'i Medicaid program pleaded guilty yesterday to federal felony charges of mail fraud and submitting false claims.
In addition, Dr. Sze Ming Suen, 63, of Mililani, has settled a civil lawsuit with the U.S. government that calls for him to pay more than $2.1 million to resolve charges of fraudulent Medicaid billings. He also has paid HMSA a $1.6 million settlement to resolve false billings he submitted to that agency, U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said yesterday.
Suen, owner of Wahiawa Clinic Inc., faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the counts he pleaded guilty to. Sentencing will be Sept. 10.
A former employee who dispensed much of the medication on Suen's behalf will receive $464,000 of the money returned to the federal government for notifying authorities of the fraud, according to Thomas Grande, the former employee's attorney.
Suen's attorney, Brook Hart, said Suen "took responsibility" for "billing errors" by pleading guilty yesterday to the two charges.
"He had a very efficient practice and he prescribed what he thought was appropriate medication for his patients, but should have had a pharmacist hand out the medicine," Hart said.
He said Suen corrected the problems in 1995.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong said Suen admitted he billed the state's Medicaid program or HMSA for services he never rendered, submitted bills for expensive name brand drugs when he gave patients much cheaper generic substitutes and allowed an employee who was not properly licensed to dispense drugs on his behalf.
"Anyone who dispenses drugs in Hawai'i has to have a pharmacist's or physician's license to make sure the dosage is correct and the drugs are labeled accurately, and perhaps most importantly, because they are required to counsel patients on the proper use of the medication," Tong said.
The former employee, a medical technologist, work-ed for Suen from 1980 to 1995. Grande said the employee noticed in 1988 the "increased types of fraud" Suen was engaged in.
Grande said he believes Suen delegated the job of distributing drugs so he could maximize the number of patients going through his clinic. He put that figure at 300 to 400 patients a week.
However, he said, a state inspector advised Suen in 1993 that he could not allow a "non-pharmacist" to dispense drugs on his behalf.
