United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr., today announced the conviction of a Louisville physician, in United States District Court, before Chief District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr., on multiple charges including unlawful distribution of controlled substances and health care fraud.
“The criminal actions of George Kudmani contributed to untold suffering and hardships for patients and their families in his care,” stated U.S. Attorney John Kuhn. “A physician takes an oath to do no harm, yet in this case Dr. Kudmani recklessly prescribed drugs to those suffering from opioid use disorders with no legitimate medical purpose. We thank the DEA, Louisville Metro Police Department, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and the FBI for the persistence and hard work that led to today’s conviction.”
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Following a seven-day trial, the jury deliberated approximately nine hours before finding the former physician, George Kudmani, 71, guilty on 26 of 29 charges. Sentencing is scheduled before Chief Judge McKinley on June 6, 2017 at 11 a.m., in Louisville.
The jury found Kudmani guilty of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances, not for a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of a professional medical practice between July 2009 and September 2012. The controlled substances prescribed were Oxycodone, a schedule II controlled substance, and Hydrocodone, a schedule III controlled substance.
Further, Kudmani was convicted of committing health care fraud for falsely and fraudulently billing Kentucky Medicaid (Passport) by submitting claims for medically unnecessary Transvaginal Ultrasounds (TVS), TVSs not performed, and billing for TVS reports that were never prepared for patients, between January 2009 and September 2012.
Kudmani operated an obstetrician/gynecological medical practice located at 9702 Stonestreet Road, in Louisville, Kentucky from December of 1980 until 2012. The practice did not employ any other individual with medical training. A typical first-time patient would pay $75 for a gynecological exam, and each visit thereafter, the patient would typically pay $35 in cash and receive a Schedule II-V controlled substance prescription without a physical examination. Patients testified to paying cash and being prescribed controlled substances for years.
Kudmani faces a maximum potential penalty of no more than 30 years in prison, a fine of $13,750,000, and a 3-year period of supervised release.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph Ansari and Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, assisted by paralegal Lori Cracknell and was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kentucky Medical Fraud Control Unit and Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).
