A 63-year-old Houston man has agreed to pay $2,053,515 to resolve allegations he submitted false claims to federally funded healthcare programs for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator electrodes. Dr. Ajay Aggarwal is an anesthesiologist and pain medicine doctor who practices in Bellaire and Lake Jackson as well as Van Vleck. Ajay Aggarwal, a sole proprietorship, and PRWCSWTX LLC are entities Aggarwal used to conduct his medical practice known as The Pain Relief & Wellness Center.
From Nov. 16, 2021, to March 28, 2023, Aggarwal billed federally funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and the Department of Labor’s Workers’ Compensation Programs, for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator electrodes. These are invasive procedures usually requiring use of an operating room. As a result, Medicare and other federally funded healthcare programs pay thousands of dollars per procedure. However, neither Aggarwal nor his staff performed these surgical procedures, according to the allegations. Instead, patients allegedly received devices used for electro-acupuncture, which only involved inserting monofilament wire a few millimeters into patients’ ears and taping the neurostimulator behind the ear with an adhesive. All device placements took place in Aggarwal’s clinic, not a hospital or surgical center, and no incision was made on a patient, according to the allegations.