Ohio pain doctor guilty of workers comp fraud, must repay $33,000

An Akron, Ohio, pain specialist has agreed to reimburse the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation more than $33,000 and stop seeing injured workers after recently pleading guilty to a fifth-degree felony count of workers compensation fraud, the bureau announced Friday.

Acting on a tip from a former patient, BWC investigators found Dr. William Midian, 71, provided inadequate care and falsified patient records so he could bill the agency for services he did not render, the agency said in a statement.

“Our investigation revealed that on several occasions in 2016, the doctor billed our agency for services we know he didn’t provide,” Jim Wernecke, director of BWC’s special investigations department, said in the statement. “In addition, we found the quality of his care lacking. It certainly wasn’t at the level our injured workers expect and deserve.”