BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have filed a health care fraud charge against a Massachusetts doctor accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies that suggested after-surgery benefits from painkillers.
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz announced the complaint Thursday against Dr. Scott Reuben, the former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
Prosecutors say Reuben sought and received research grants from pharmaceutical companies but never performed the studies. Prosecutors say he fabricated patient data and submitted information to anesthesiology journals that published it.
The hospital said last year that it had discovered the alleged fraud. Reuben did not admit to it.
His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.