The Tennessee attorney general is suing a chain of pain management clinics over claims of millions of dollars in TennCare fraud.
Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced the lawsuit Thursday against MMi Pain Clinics, which operated at least 18 clinics in Tennessee. The lawsuit in Williamson County Circuit Court claims the pain clinic chain have filed fraudulent TennCare claims since 2006.
The lawsuit alleges the clinics regularly subject patients to unnecessary medical procedures and received on average at least six times more in injection reimbursements due to the false claims. The complaint says the chain's owner, Michael Kestner, and business partner Dr. Lisabeth Williams knowingly filed fraudulent claims for personal financial gain.
The state is seeking $7 million in damages plus civil penalties, possibly tripling the amount.
