Northern District of Georgia | The jury in Rome considers Dr. Charles Adams and Full Circle Medical Center liable for violations of the False Claims Act

ROME, Ga. – A federal jury found alternative medicine physician Charles C. Adams, MD, and his practice group, Charles C. Adams, MD, PC d/b/a Full Circle Medical Center (“Full Circle”) liable for violations of the Violate the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by submitting false diagnoses to Medicare for reimbursement of chelation therapy reimbursements. Chelation therapy uses drugs to remove heavy metals from the body.

“Healthcare providers who file false claims with Medicare deplete the resources available to patients in urgent need of covered medical procedures,” said US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “On behalf of healthcare providers who diligently bill for medical procedures and their patients who rely on Medicare’s safety net, our office will continue to work vigorously with our federal agencies and law enforcement partners to prosecute providers who commit wrongdoing.”

“When providers submit false information to Medicare, they deprive patients of valuable, taxpayer-funded resources,” said Tamala E. Miles, special investigator at the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). . “HHS-OIG is proud to work with our partners to hold accountable those who seek to improperly benefit from federal health programs.”

“Federal Medicare funding is badly needed but limited. When these funds are fraudulently diverted, people suffer,” said Keri Farley, Acting Special Agent for the FBI Atlanta. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure these programs are not abused.”

According to US Attorney Buchanan, the civil complaint and other information presented in court, Adams and Full Circle operated a medical practice in Ringgold, Georgia. As part of his specialty in internal medicine, Adams used Edetate Calcium Disodium (“EDTA”) to treat a variety of conditions including atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, headaches, gastrointestinal distress, fatigue, and other common symptoms. However, because EDTA is a procedure recognized only by the Federal Drug Administration to treat lead poisoning and lead encephalopathy, Medicare does not cover the use of EDTA for these unindicated symptoms. In order to receive payment for the procedures, Dr. Adams therefore incorrectly told Medicare that his patients suffered from heavy metal poisoning.

In response, on August 27, 2018, the government filed a civil lawsuit alleging that between November 2008 and September 2015, Adams and Full Circle were involved in a scheme in which they knowingly made false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary and ” “alternative” chelation therapy that Adams administered with EDTA. The complaint also alleged that Adams and Full Circle wrongfully received approximately $1.1 million in Medicare reimbursements related to this plan.

The case of Charles C. Adams was heard on June 5, 2023 in Rome, Georgia by a grand jury before Chief US District Judge William M. Ray II. On June 14, 2023, the jury found Adams and Full Circle liable for filing more than 4,400 false claims with Medicare. The jury awarded more than $1.1 million in damages. This award is tripled under the FCA, which also provides for the imposition of a civil penalty on each claim before a final judgment is reached. The exact amount of the sentence will not be announced until the court decides on post-trial motions.

The FCA is the primary agency of the United States Attorney’s Office of Civil Affairs in combating fraud, waste and abuse under federal programs, including Medicare.

This case was investigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is being tried by Assistant US Attorneys Anthony DeCinque and Akash Desai.

For more information, please contact the US Attorney’s Office of Public Affairs at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The web address of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.