A New York City-based dentist's license was rightfully revoked by the Board of Regents after the dentist pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, an appeals court ruled, according to the New York Law Journal.
Dmitry Epelboym, DDS, pleaded guilty in 2012 to insurance fraud. Investigators claimed that between 2005 and 2011 he billed private insurance companies for services he said were performed in Manhattan when they were actually performed in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors said Dr. Epelboym submitted the false claims to receive a higher reimbursement rate. Dr. Epelboym was sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $345,002 in restitution.
After pleading guilty, the state Education Department charged Dr. Epelboym with unprofessional conduct. A Board of Regents decided to revoke Dr. Epelboym's license.
Dr. Epelboym claims that no patients have been harmed in his 25 years of practice, reports the New York Law Journal. However, an appeals court reaffirmed the board's decision to strip the dentist of his medical license.
"Although petitioner [Epelboym] argues that a less severe penalty should have been imposed due to the presence of numerous mitigating factors, such as the absence of patient harm and the quality of care that he had provided his patients for 25 years, it is clear from the record that those factors were before the board for consideration," the appeal court justices wrote in its July 18 decision.
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Dmitry Epelboym, DDS, pleaded guilty in 2012 to insurance fraud. Investigators claimed that between 2005 and 2011 he billed private insurance companies for services he said were performed in Manhattan when they were actually performed in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors said Dr. Epelboym submitted the false claims to receive a higher reimbursement rate. Dr. Epelboym was sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $345,002 in restitution.
After pleading guilty, the state Education Department charged Dr. Epelboym with unprofessional conduct. A Board of Regents decided to revoke Dr. Epelboym's license.
Dr. Epelboym claims that no patients have been harmed in his 25 years of practice, reports the New York Law Journal. However, an appeals court reaffirmed the board's decision to strip the dentist of his medical license.
"Although petitioner [Epelboym] argues that a less severe penalty should have been imposed due to the presence of numerous mitigating factors, such as the absence of patient harm and the quality of care that he had provided his patients for 25 years, it is clear from the record that those factors were before the board for consideration," the appeal court justices wrote in its July 18 decision.
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