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Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

Chiropractor Gets 4 Years for $20M Fraud Scheme

Jonathan Michael Rouffe, a chiropractor in Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for a $20 million healthcare fraud scheme, according to the (DOJ).

The DOJ said that Rouffe had created a network of companies for durable medical equipment which he used to submit a high volume of illegal equipment claims to Medicare. The DOJ claims that Rouffe, along with co-conspirators, submitted more than $20 million worth of equipment claims and received more than $10 million from Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rouffe was able to claim such high dollar amounts in his scheme due to use of bribing and kickbacks to co-conspirators, according to the DOJ. Rouffe and his fellow conspirators attempted to hide the illegality of their claims by labeling bribes as marketing services and prescriptions as telemedicine. According to the DOJ, Rouffe did not provide any telemedicine services.

In addition to his prison sentence, Rouffe was ordered to forfeit money in several bank accounts connected to his fraud offenses. He was also ordered to forfeit more than $3 million collected from the scheme as part of his sentence. The court also ordered him to repay nearly $11 million. He originally pleaded guilty to the charges on June 30, 2020.

Omar Pérez Aybar, of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), said that Rouffe's case was an example of efforts by the government to hold accountable "individuals who commit Medicare fraud."

Departure of UTMB President Stuns Colleagues

The departure of Ben Raimer, MD, from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), has led to confusion among his former colleagues and students, according to the .

Raimer, who was recently named UTMB's president, played a key role in the growth and development of the institution for more than 30 years, including expanding outpatient services, providing healthcare to prisoners, and navigating numerous public health crises, according to the Chronicle.

The Chronicle reported that on August 22, James B. Milliken, the University of Texas System Chancellor, announced that Raimer had resigned effective immediately. He had been placed on administrative leave on August 8th. So far, the University of Texas System has not provided a reason or explanation for Raimer's sudden departure, but it did provide a brief clarification to the Chronicle that it "was not in any way connected to the operation at UTMB or the Galveston National Lab."

One former colleague who worked with Raimer for years, Matthew Hay, MD, told the Chronicle that "nobody can fathom that this person who has devoted his life to the well being of kids and the well being of Galveston and the well being of UTMB could have possibly done something that warranted whatever we want to call this."

Hay added that "we can call it a resignation, but nobody in Galveston buys that he left of his free will."

The article highlights the concerns and frustration from several colleagues and former students who said they were "annoyed" with the secretive approach to his departure.

The Chronicle also reported that Raimer did not respond to an interview request for the story.

Twitter Labels Accurate COVID-19 Tweets as Misinformation

Twitter has flagged dozens of tweets featuring facts about COVID-19 as misinformation and in some cases suspended accounts of doctors and scientists who posted them, according to .

In an interview with the Post, Twitter acknowledged the issue. It has also restored the suspended accounts and removed the misinformation labels, according to the article.

Celeste Carswell, a Twitter spokesperson, told the Post that the company is "...reviewing our team's protocol to safeguard against such mistakes in the future." Carswell also acknowledged the role of users on the site who brought the issue to the company's attention.

In total, 10 specific tweets and accounts were affected by the mislabeling. The Post also reported that some of the affected users received apologies from Twitter.

One user who had a tweet mistakenly flagged for misinformation last week told the Post that the issue created doubt around her account on the site. Johanna Po, an oral pathologist with a PhD in molecular biology, said "in terms of public perception, it puts into question our credibility as scientists."

She also told the Post that the mistake could have long-term negative effects on her reputation as well.

"If we put something on Twitter like a research study, and you say it's wrong, it invalidates everything we're saying," Po told the Post.

The Post article goes on to detail the experiences of several other researchers and doctors who said their posts were wrongly labeled as misinformation. In addition to potentially undermining experts' credibility on Twitter, several sources interviewed by the Post also highlighted the potential for harassment against them.

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