Plastic surgeon denies allegations he defrauded taxpayers
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A former plastic surgeon from Iowa is denying allegations that he defrauded taxpayers and falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid for procedures he never performed.
Dr. Adam B. Smith, also known as “Adam Bryant,” is being sued by the United States and the State of Iowa, which allege that for five years Smith submitted false claims for health care services to government payors such as Medicare and Medicaid.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, from August 2014 to August 2019 Smith was practicing plastic surgery at Sioux City’s Tri-State Specialists. While there, the DOJ claims, Smith engaged in a “concerted pattern of fraudulent behavior in order to obtain or increase government reimbursement.” Smith is accused of using templated medical records in which he repeatedly reported false, contradictory, or even fabricated information about the patients’ health status, the care he provided and the procedures he performed.
The DOJ alleges Smith routinely attempted to mask the true nature of the surgical procedures he performed, in some cases by performing non-covered cosmetic procedures while documenting that the procedures were, in fact, medically necessary surgeries for which he could bill Medicare or Medicaid.
“Smith’s records are replete with instances in which he billed government payors for complicated and highly compensated procedures that were performed in impossibly short amounts of time,” the DOJ claims. “As a result, Smith and his practice were paid hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in excess of what they were entitled to.”
As an example, the government claims Smith performed what’s commonly called a “tummy tuck” on one patient and then billed it to Medicaid as a medically necessary hernia repair. By doing so, the DOJ claims, Smith collected $3,750 he wasn’t entitled to receive.
Smith recently filed a response to the allegations, denying any wrongdoing.
The United States alleges Smith submitted more than 1,000 false claims for payment. Under the federal False Claims Act, the United States is entitled to a judgment of between $13,000 and $27,000 for each false claim, as well as a judgement that’s equal to three times the total cost of the false claims.
Court records indicate that well before Smith began practicing as an Iowa-licensed physician, he was, in the view of the DOJ, fraudulently billing Medicare for services.
From May 2011 through January 2014, Smith practiced plastic surgery in Traverse City, Michigan. In December 2021, the United States filed a civil suit against Smith alleging that during his time practicing in Michigan, he routinely billed Medicare for procedures he did not perform. That case resulted in a default judgment against Smith and his practice.
Court records indicate that Smith’s colleague at Tri-State Specialists, Dr. Matthew Steele, blew the whistle on Smith after becoming familiar with Smith’s billing practices. In 2019, Steele initiated litigation against Smith through the False Claims Act.
As the individual who initiated the case against Smith, Steele can now share in any money that might be recovered through the Department of Justice’s pursuit of the case.
In 2021, Smith voluntarily surrendered his Iowa medical license after the Iowa Board of Medicine filed charges against him related to his billing practices. That same year, the United States entered into a settlement agreement with Smith’s Sioux City employer, Tri-State Specialists, for $612,501.
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