Two Novus Doctors Sentenced to Combined 23 Years in Prison for Healthcare Fraud

U.S. Attorney's Office – Northern District of Texas, Dec. 2, 2021

Two doctors who helped a local hospice agency scam Medicare were sentenced today to a combined 23 years in prison for healthcare fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

In May, a federal jury found Novus Health Services Medical Directors Dr. Mark E. Gibbs and Dr. Laila Hirjee, along with Novus RN Tammie Little, guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and other charges. Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn sentenced Dr. Gibbs to 13 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $27,978,903 in restitution; she sentenced Dr. Hirjee to 10 years in federal prison and ordered her to pay $16,253,281 in restitution. The judge also sentenced Ms. Little to 33 months in federal prison.

According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants helped Novus CEO Bradley Harris defraud Medicare by, among other things, illegally admitting patients who were not appropriate for hospice and submitting materially false claims for hospice services.

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