Report: Judge Dismisses All but 1 Charge Against Radiologist

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 | 1

A Southern California judge dismissed 120 of 121 felony charges against a radiologist accused of participating in a $17 million workers’ compensation fraud scheme, according to a report by mynewsla.com.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King dismissed all but one of the charges — filing a fraudulent claim — against Dr. Sim Hoffman on Thursday.

Hoffman was indicted in 2011 on hundreds of felony fraud charges.

Hoffman is a radiologist and owner of Advanced Professional Imaging, Advanced Management Services and Better Sleeping Medical Center, all in Buena Park. When the indictment was announced, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Hoffman faced 883 felony counts.

Prosecutors said their investigation uncovered a practice in which Hoffman would perform an electromyography nerve test, which typically costs $35 per procedure, and billed for a single-fiber test that costs $330. There were only two doctors in the state qualified to perform single-fiber electromyography nerve tests at the time, and prosecutors said Hoffman was not one of them.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office also claimed that Hoffman billed for epilepsy and seizure testing that he never performed. Among other things, he was accused of paying Dr. Thomas Michael Heric $100 per patient to write a report analyzing the results of tests that were not performed.

Charges were dismissed in December 2013 when a judge said prosecutors failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury. Prosecutors refiled charges in 2014.

Heric died in 2018 and the case against him was dismissed.