Rep. Massullo responds to accusations against his medical practice

By John Labriola -

State Rep. Ralph Massullo on Friday responded to accusations against him and his medical practice that were made in an article published in last week's edition of the Citrus Eagle, the predecessor to this publication. 

The article, authored by Billy Cayce, reported that Massullo and his partner Dr. William Welton III of Suncoast Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center, which has offices in Lecanto and Ocala, paid the federal government a $2.3 million fine in December 2020 for Medicare fraud. The article was based on an announcement posted on the website of the U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG), which reported that the $2.3 million payment stemmed from falsified patient records and claims prepared by a Suncoast shareholder employee, who allegedly upcoded procedures and overstated the size and type of excised lesions, leading to unnecessary follow-up procedures. 

Massullo, who contacted the Citrus Eagle three days after the article was published, said he ordered an internal audit of his practice after discovering the fraudulent claims, fired the shareholder employee responsible, reached out to the OIG, and voluntarily refunded the government.   

"We have never been investigated, nor fined. That was a self-disclosure that we instituted," Massullo said. "If anything, it shows our ethics and concern for the both the rule of law and our patients' care. We will continue serving our patients, who put their trust in us, in an ethical and cost effective manner." 

We appreciate Rep. Massullo reaching out to give his side of the story. In fairness, he should have been contacted for comment before the article was published, a practice the new Citrus Crusader fully intends to follow.

Comments

  1. Ralph can you please address the 469 thousand you received in CARES act money?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ralph are you familiar with the doctrine of Respondiat Superior? It means the boss is responsible for all actions if his employees.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ralph is it true that consistently for years that you have been in the top 1 percent of Medicare billers nationwide? Ralph did you know that such billing would normally trigger an automatic audit by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services? Could it be you were never audited because you are consistently endorsed by the AMA PAC the lobbying arm of the AMA? Doesn't the AMA consider abortion a medical procedure? Didn't the AMA recently endorse things like gun control and not permitting carrying a concealed gun carry in doctor offices? They also endorsed Obamacare. The author of this article says he is a conservative. I seriously doubt it since Ralph Massullo is against the second amendment and was never endorsed by the NRA.

    ReplyDelete

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