Greedy doc loses licence after scamming OHIP for $2M
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Former Order of Canada recipient Dr. Ranjit Kumar Chandra — who fleeced OHIP for $2 million — has lost his licence to practise in Ontario.
“Dr. Chandra concocted and applied a devious scheme to cheat the Ontario public, at a time when health care funds are stretched,” a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario discipline hearing ruling stated.
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“In the circumstances of this case, revocation is the only outcome — there is simply no room in the medical profession for such reprehensible conduct,” stated the decision.
“Dr. Chandra’s conduct directly impacted the public purse and a fine is required for general deterrence,” stated the decision, which also fined him $35,000 — the maximum available — and ordered him to pay the college costs of $16,500.
“When a physician such as Dr. Chandra abuses his power by defrauding the public health care system, he has breached the trust of his patients, his professional colleagues and society at large,” the decision states.
The ruling found Chandra recruited approximately 300 people to his scheme and more than $2 million in OHIP fees were paid to him over a four-year period while he performed little to no medical services.
He billed OHIP almost $200,000 for services while he was in Europe, the Middle East or India, the decision stated.
“Chandra billed for audiometry and pulmonary function tests, despite there being no such equipment in his offices,” the decision stated.
College prosecutor Elisabeth Widner said Chandra “used and induced patients and staff members by furnishing them with money and cheques for improper use in a billing scheme.”
He recruited and paid “leaders” extra to bring in additional OHIP card numbers — called ‘extras’– from relatives and co-workers to magnify the doctor’s illicit profits, said Widner.
The once-renowned allergist provided patients and staffers payouts so that Chandra could keep billing these cards for services on patients he seldom or never treated from 2012 through early 2016, said Widner.
Chandra, 79, issued a blanket denial but was tried in absentia.
He is now living in India and is wanted for fraud in Ontario.
The College was tipped off to Chandra’s scam after Chandra propositioned an honest single mom in Brampton with an offer of $500 to $800 in monthly cash when he treated her for hives in March 2016, said Widner.
“She refused. Instead, she was shocked by the proposal and looked up his physician number and reported him to authourities,” said Widner.
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