Stokes Gets 10 Years for Healthcare Fraud

Dr. Robert Stokes was sentenced to 10 years in prison for medical fraud, yet at the same time the federal judge raised questions about the seriousness of the health risk allegedly facing thousands of the dermatologists' former patients.^[1]

U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist said Thursday that, while the Grand Rapids doctor abused his authority and targeted vulnerable patients, he did not consciously or recklessly risk their health through recycled sutures and unsanitary equipment -- allegations prosecutors hoped would lengthen Stokes' sentence.^[2]

"There was a lot of fright in the community [over the possible health ramifications brought up by the prosecutors]," Quist said during a nine-hour sentencing hearing. However Quist found no "preponderance" of evidence that Stokes reused syringes.^[3] Even though he reused sutures, Quist said, they were cleaned with chemicals that destroyed blood-borne diseases.^[4]

Stokes was convicted in April of 31 counts of fraud for overcharging insurance companies for procedures he did not perform.^[5] The doctor frequently removed growths -- sometimes freckles or blemishes -- after scaring patients into believing they were precancerous; he also double-billed for visits by falsely claiming that patients had impetigo, a highly contagious bacterial infection.^[6]

Witnesses Thursday testified that Stokes used braided, absorbable sutures, pulling them all the way through a patient's wound.^[7] He then reused leftovers on another patient, a "Third World" practice that could lead to infection, an expert said.^[8] However, experts acknowledged that while reusing sutures violates medical standards, his practice of cleaning the leftovers with chemicals was enough to kill infectious diseases; the judge agreed.^[9]

The judge allowed Stokes to leave court on bond and report later to federal prison. Quist also ordered him to spend three years on supervised release and pay $175,000 in fines.^[10]

Health Care Fraud
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1347, it is a crime for a person to execute a scheme or artifice to defraud a health care benefit program or to obtain money from a health care program by false pretenses. The punishment for a violation of section 1347 is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both. If the violation results in substantial bodily injury, the person can be imprisoned for up to twenty years, and if death results, he can be sentenced to life in prison.

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^[1] Ken Kolker, Dermatologist gets 10 years for fraud, Gazette News Service, December 28, 2007, available at http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/12/dermatologist_gets_10_years_fo.html (last visited December 28, 2007)
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.