Dr. Navneet Sharda fined $486,000 by the Department of Justice to resolve allegations of health care fraud.

Radiation Oncologist Dr. Navneet Sharda has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve civil allegations of health care fraud to the Medicare program, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

The settlement agreement, effective Sept. 17, 2012, states that Navneet Sharda, M.D., who owns and operates Cancer Care Center in Las Vegas, has agreed to pay $486,000 to the United States to resolve allegations that from Jan.1 2006, through March 30, 2010, he made improper billings to Medicare. Dr. Sharda allegedly overbilled federal health care insurance programs such as Medicare, TRICARE, and the FEHB, by unbundling the billings for the treatments he provided. Unbundling is when a doctor splits the billing for a major procedure into several smaller procedures in order to obtain more money from the government than the doctor is entitled to receive.

The settlement agreement states that it is neither an admission of liability by Dr. Sharda nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.

Assistant United States Attorney Roger Wenthe handled the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners discovered that Dr. Sharda had abandoned numerous medical records at two previous places of his business. This abandonment was set in motion by foreclosure and eviction proceedings against the owner of the real property and is believed that Dr. Sharda is a owner of the said property. Despite Dr. Sharda’s ownership interests in the aforementioned business and involvement as the physician of record for many of the patients whose medical records were located at two businesses, Dr. Sharda denied responsibility for the abandoned medical records on several occasions. Dr. Sharda subsequently admitted that the abandoned medical records were his responsibility.
The allegation is the failure to maintain timely, legible, accurate and complete medical records relating to the diagnosis, treatment and care of a patient. The Board ordered that Dr. Sharda shall be issued an amended public reprimand, with the previously issued public reprimand being rescinded, and ordering that Dr. Sharda shall reimburse the Board the reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the investigation and prosecution of this case, in the amount of $19,902.16.

Few years ago, Dr. Navneet Sharda sued a fellow cancer specialist Dr. Dhan Kaushal, saying the other doctor had defamed him by criticizing his character and medical expertise. In 2011, a Clark County District Court jury sided unanimously with Sharda in the defamation case, awarding him $60,000 in damages.

Most recently, Dr. Navneet Sharda and related corporations, Cancer Care Center and Sun Medical Group, PLLC were awarded The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval, recognizing Dr. Sharda’s dedication to meeting or exceeding The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in ambulatory care organizations.
The accreditation award recognizes Dr. Navneet Sharda’s demonstrated commitment to the best care of his patients through continuous compliance with The Joint Commission’s highest national standards for health care excellence.
This award was achieved after a rigorous unannounced on-site survey.  A team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated all aspects of Dr. Navneet Sharda’s physical location and patient care protocols for compliance with the most rigorous standards of care specific to the needs of his patients, including continuous quality improvement, infection control, leadership, facility safety, CT scan and Linear Accelerator quality, and medication management.