Doctor Agrees to Restitution After Another Brush With Authorities

Monday, November 5, 2018 | 0

A pain-management doctor who treated injured workers and has been in trouble in two states has agreed to pay $28,600 in restitution in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud public and private insurance programs.

Dr. Roland Chalifoux was indicted in West Virginia in July 2017 for allegedly billing insurance companies for services he never performed, his federal indictment shows. But last week, prosecutors dropped the charges after Chalifoux agreed to repay the insurers, according to court records and local news reports. He will be on probation and under federal supervision for at least a year.

"We knew from the outset of this case that the prosecution's position was deeply flawed and based on a misunderstanding of health care regulations," reads a statement from Chalifoux's attorneys to the Wheeling newspaper. "Despite many opportunities to resolve this case early, we believed in Dr. Chalifoux's innocence and looked forward to presenting his case to the jury."

Chalifoux said the indictment stemmed from a 2014 outbreak of meningitis that authorities said was connected to his pain clinic in McMechen, West Virginia. Health investigators determined that the clinic allowed syringes to be re-used, and Chalifoux refused to release the names of his patients so that they could be contacted by health workers.

Before that, Chalifoux had practiced as a surgeon in Texas. In 2002, the Texas Medical Board issued a complaint that alleged Chalifoux’s treatment of 13 patients constituted “unprofessional or dishonorable” conduct.  

Based on his treatment in three of those cases, including the death of a 61-year-old man who received surgery deemed unnecessary, an administrative law judge recommended a five-year license suspension. 

The Texas board decided instead to revoke the doctor's license. Chalifoux appealed, but a court upheld the revocation, noting that Chalifoux “had been disciplined by four different hospitals.”

He moved to West Virginia in 2004, and the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy granted Chalifoux a restricted license, then an unrestricted license the following year, according to news reports.

"I am incredibly relieved that this three-and-a-half-year ordeal is over," Chalifoux said in a statement. "I have always maintained my innocence and look forward to continuing to practice medicine and treat my patients."