Chiropractor Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Health Care Companie of Over $1.2 Million

STEPHEN CATTERTON, 39, of Norcross, Georgia, was sentenced January 14 by United States District Judge Jack T. Camp on charges of health care fraud and possession with intent to distribute testosterone.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “This defendant lied to insurers about what services he was providing to patients, defrauding the insurers of more than $1.2 million. False claims like these underlie many of our health care fraud cases, and lead to higher health care costs for everyone.”

CATTERTON was sentenced to 3 years, 1 month in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,288,598.26, and ordered to serve 300 hours of community service. CATTERTON pleaded guilty to the charges on September 30, 2008.

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: CATTERTON was a licensed chiropractor in the State of Georgia. In 1998, CATTERTON opened two chiropractic clinics, “Catterton Chiropractic, P.C.” and “Citadel Healthcare Group,” both of which were located in Norcross, Georgia. In 2006, the FBI initiated a criminal investigation into the activities of CATTERTON for the submission of false claims to federal and private health insurance companies. As a result of the FBI’s investigation, it was determined that between June 2001 and December 2006, CATTERTON billed in excess of $3 million, and was paid in excess of $1.275 million from various health care benefit programs for services he never performed or provided. In some instances, billing codes for more advanced procedures were used when in fact patients only received massages. CATTERTON modified the billings for the services that were actually performed to maximize his reimbursement from the insurance companies. In addition, when agents executed a search warrant on CATTERTON’s business in October 2006, they seized bottles of injectable testosterone, typically used for anti-aging and hormone replacement therapy. CATTERTON was not licensed to distribute such materials.

As part of his plea agreement, CATTERTON agreed to make full restitution to the victims of the offense.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Zahra S. Karinshak prosecuted the case.

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