远程医疗公司老板被判20年：主导4,620万美元医保诈骗 付钱雇医生签假医嘱、个人获利逾1,040万美元
美国司法部10月23日宣布，佛罗里达州 Fort Lauderdale 居民 Christopher Harwood（44岁）当天被判处20年监禁。他经营的远程医疗公司 TelevisitMD 主导了一场持续六年多、涉案4,620万美元的联邦医疗保险（Medicare）诈骗。法院同时判令他向 Medicare 赔付17,942,402美元，并没收10,431,463美元。
据司法部公布的法庭文件，Harwood 与同伙通过密集的电话营销盯上 Medicare 患者，诱使他们接受并不需要的矫形支具与基因检测。他向医生付费，让医生批准支具与检测的医嘱；这些医生没有遵守 Medicare 的远程医疗规则，与患者没有真实的医患关系，往往在与患者没有任何有意义接触的情况下就签字。Harwood 随后把签好的医嘱卖给耐用医疗设备（DME）供应公司、实验室与营销商。
Harwood 还在佛罗里达州经营多家 DME 供应公司，用这些公司就患者不想要、不需要的矫形支具向 Medicare 申报数百万美元。整个骗局共向 Medicare 提交4,620万美元虚假申报，Medicare 据此实际支付1,790万美元，Harwood 本人从中获利逾1,040万美元。
Harwood 已于2026年3月就共谋医疗保健诈骗与电信诈骗认罪。此次量刑由司法部国家欺诈执法司助理司法部长 Colin M. McDonald、佛罗里达州南区联邦检察官 Jason A. Reding Quiñones、联邦调查局（FBI）Miami 外地办事处特别探员主管 Brett Skiles 与卫生与公众服务部监察长办公室（HHS-OIG）代理副监察长 Miranda Bennett 共同宣布；案件由 FBI 与 HHS-OIG 调查，司法部欺诈司医疗保健诈骗科审判律师 Owen Dunn 起诉。
司法部在公告中称，其医疗保健诈骗打击力量自2007年以来已在全美九个联邦司法区起诉6,200多名被告，这些被告向联邦医疗保健计划与私人保险公司申报的金额合计逾450亿美元。
Telemedicine Company Owner Sentenced to 20 Years for Leading $46.2M Medicare Fraud Scheme and Paying Doctors to Sign Fraudulent Orders
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Oct. 23 that Christopher Harwood, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was sentenced the same day to 20 years in prison for organizing and leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy through his telemedicine company, TelevisitMD, over more than six years. He was also ordered to pay $17,942,402 in restitution to Medicare and $10,431,463 in forfeiture.
According to court documents cited by the department, Harwood and his co-conspirators targeted Medicare patients through aggressive telemarketing campaigns, inducing them to accept orthotic braces and genetic tests they did not need. Harwood paid doctors to approve orders for the braces and tests; the doctors did not follow Medicare's telemedicine rules, had no real medical relationships with the patients, and often signed orders without any meaningful interaction with them. Harwood then sold the signed orders to durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies, laboratories and marketers in the scheme.
Harwood also owned and operated multiple Florida-based DME supply companies that billed Medicare millions of dollars for braces patients did not want or need. In total, the scheme submitted $46.2 million in false claims, Medicare paid $17.9 million, and Harwood personally profited more than $10.4 million. He pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.
The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office, and Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda Bennett of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the case, and Trial Attorney Owen Dunn of the Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section is prosecuting it.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：佛罗里达州 Fort Lauderdale 水岸城区，被告 Christopher Harwood 在当地经营远程医疗公司 TelevisitMD（资料图）。照片：Tamanoeconomico，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Christopher Harwood operated TelevisitMD (file photo). Photo: Tamanoeconomico, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
