A Memphis podiatrist faces 50 years in federal prison in a $4 million fraud case involving foot baths.
A jury recently convicted Nathan Lucas, 59, of Memphis on five counts of health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Officials said Lucas had his pharmacies to submit nearly $4 million in fraudulent claims from October 2018 to September 2021.
Lucas owned and operated Advanced Foot & Ankle Care of Memphis, which had two in-house pharmacies. Officials said he regularly prescribed antibiotic and antifungal drugs to be mixed into a tub of water for patients to soak their feet.
These drug cocktails included capsules, creams, and powders that were not indicated to be dissolved in water and some of which were not even water soluble. He chose these medications to prescribe and dispense based on their anticipated reimbursement amount, rather than medical necessity, officials said.
The podiatrist caused his pharmacies to submit nearly $4 million in claims to Medicare and TennCare for dispensing expensive foot bath medications that were not medically necessary and not eligible for reimbursement. For this, Lucas’ pharmacies were reimbursed more than $3 million.
Lucas is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20th. He faces a maximum penalty for 10 years in prison for each of the five counts for which he was convicted.
