Physician’s estate agrees to pay $625,000 false claims settlement

The estate of a deceased physician in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $625,000 to settle False Claims Act allegations saying he filed improper claims for treating injured U.S. Postal Service workers.

Dr. Leroy J. Pelicci owned the Pelicci Pain Relief Center in Scranton until his death in March 2014, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg said Thursday in a statement. Investigators from the U.S. attorney’s office alleged that Dr. Pelicci submitted numerous improper claims for payment after treating the postal workers to the Department of Labor Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, according to the statement.

The claims were submitted under the Federal Employees Compensation Act and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for trigger point injections, which were “upcoded to receive a higher reimbursement amount than permitted” between 2003 and 2014, according to the statement.

The settlement reflects the amount of fraudulent claims plus the costs of the investigation, according to the statement.

“The U.S. Postal Service pays about $3 billion per year in workers compensation costs,” said United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent Kenneth G. Cleevely in the statement. “USPS OIG special agents, along with our law enforcement partners, conduct investigations of those individuals who choose to take advantage of the system.”