Doctor Sentenced for $54M Medicare DME Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—A Texas doctor was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison and ordered to pay more than $34 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to defraud Medicare by prescribing durable medical equipment (DME) and cancer genetic testing without seeing, speaking to or otherwise treating patients.

According to court documents, Daniel R. Canchola M.D., 54, of Flower Mound, agreed to electronically sign doctor’s orders for DME and cancer genetic testing that he knew were used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. From August 2018 through April 2019, Canchola received approximately $30 in exchange for each doctor’s order he signed authorizing DME and cancer genetic test orders that were not legitimately prescribed, not needed, or not used—totaling more than $466,000 in kickbacks. 

The doctor’s orders Canchola signed were used to submit more than $54 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. According to court filings, the Medicare beneficiaries for whom Canchola prescribed DME and cancer genetic testing were targeted by telemarketing campaigns and at health fairs, and they were induced to submit to the cancer genetic testing and to receive the DME regardless of medical necessity.

In October 2022, Canchola pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.