Dr. Brian Hyatt, a prominent psychiatrist based in Arkansas, is facing lawsuits from at least 26 victims who claim they were held against their will for days, and in some cases, weeks, as part of an alleged $800,000 Medicaid scam. The accusations have sparked investigations by the Arkansas Attorney General's office and have led to Hyatt's resignation from his position as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board and termination from his role at Northwest Medical Center.
Hyatt Was Charging Medicaid at the 'Highest Severity Code on Every Patient'
The Daily Mail reported that as per the statements from the victims, they were subjected to forceful confinement within Hyatt's unit at Northwest Medical Center. "They sent in four nurses, techs and they each grabbed my arms and my legs and held me down on my stomach and shot me up with a sedative,' a victim said.
The outlet reported that Hyatt, who is currently under investigation by the Arkansas Attorney General's office, has been accused of organizing an insurance scam wherein he claimed to treat patients and then billing Medicaid at the 'highest severity code on every patient' to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As per the affidavit obtained by NBC News, a former staff member revealed to the investigators that Hyatt was only on the floor with patients 'a few minutes each day and that had no contact with patients.
"Dr. Hyatt never had even a single conversation with the vast majority of patients under his care. Dr. Hyatt is a clear outlier, and his claims are so high they skew the averages on certain codes or the entire Medicaid program in Arkansas,' the affidavit stated.
Hyatt Denies Wrongdoing
However, Hyatt has denied all the accusations levelled against him. Daily Mail reported that in the resignation letter written to Arkansas State Medical Board in May, Hyatt said that he was not resigning because of any wrongdoing on his part, but so that the Board may continue its important work without delay or distraction.
"I will continue to defend myself in the proper forum against the false allegations being made against me," read the statement.
The social media users reacted a lot to the alleged scam being run by the psychiatric. "The MD in question was a Brian Hyatt. But notice the brazenness. I believe the only reason he was caught was because the billing pattern was flagged in CMS for quality control reasons and he did not physically see the pt," tweeted a user.
"t's dangerous to give a psychiatrist too much power as the case of Dr. Brian Hyatt proves. The Arkansas doctor held his patients against their will without treatment so that he could scam Medicare. Now 26 of them are suing," wrote another.
