Medicaid Fraud Case in Substance Abuse Center

Wisconsin Substance Center Owes $2m in a Medicaid Fraud Case

A Wisconsin substance center owes the state and federal government more than $2 million in a Medicaid fraud case. Online court records show U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller ruled Tuesday that Brookfield-based The Healing Center LLC and its CEO and lone practitioner, Dr. Siamak Arassi, are liable for $2.3 million in what the Justice Department said was fraudulent reimbursements for medication they never gave to patients.

The Justice Department sued in 2019 after alleging Arassi ordered refills of the anti-addiction drug Vivitrol for former patients, which were reimbursed by Medicaid. But he also stockpiled the medicine and sold it for more than $1,000 a month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Arassi said in a statement posted on his website that he closed the clinic because he was tried of being harassed by “vindictive” regulators, including the Justice Department and the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board. According to a statement on the website, the clinic closed after Arassi became “sick and tired of the vindictive justice department, department of health and family service, medical board of Wisconsin, and department of quality assurance.”