Kinderhook Podiatrist Sentenced for Health Care Fraud

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Perrin D. Edwards, D.P.M., age 65, of Kinderhook, New York, was sentenced today to 1 year of probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine for committing health care fraud.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; Janelle M. Miller, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Region (HHS-OIG).

As part of his guilty plea before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, Edwards admitted that he operated a podiatry practice with offices in Hudson and Albany, New York, and caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare and private insurance companies for podiatric medical services that he had not performed or that he knew would not be covered by insurance.

Edwards admitted that he performed routine foot care services that were not covered by insurers, and falsely represented that nail debridement services were performed for some patients. Nail debridement is the process of removing dead and diseased portions of a toenail in order to significantly reduce its thickness and length, with the aim of allowing the patient to move around without pain.

Edwards also submitted claims to insurers for the trimming of normal toenails for patients Edwards knew did not suffer from any systemic condition such that Medicare and other insurers would cover his services. In connection with these fraudulent claims, Edwards caused false information to be entered into the patients’ medical records indicating that the patients suffered from systemic conditions, and had reported symptoms that were not present.

In connection with a related False Claims Act civil settlement, Edwards has paid $410,000 to the United States and admitted that he submitted, or caused others to submit, false claims for payment to Medicare.

The criminal case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard Belliss and Joseph Giovannetti.  The United States was represented in the civil case by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Katz.