United States v. Daniels,
No. CR.A.01-40002-01-KHV (D. Kan. July 13, 2001)

The District Court of Kansas refused to dismiss a health care fraud, mail fraud, and perjury indictment brought against a physician who was charged with repeatedly submitting claims for procedures not performed, upcoding procedures he did perform, luring patients into unnecessary surgery and surgeries for which he had not obtained informed consent, falsifying documents to cover up bad outcomes after surgeries, and lying under oath at his first trial.

The doctor argued that the indictment was unconstitutional because its accusations were not specific enough. The court held that the indictment was sufficiently clear to survive a motion to dismiss since it contained a complete listing of the crimes with which the doctor was being charged, a description of the type of activities that the government believed constituted a violation of those crimes, and a list of the dates, patients, and procedures that composed the factual basis for the indictment. The court did find, however, that a bill of particulars would be necessary to describe the specific allegations against the doctor, including, for example, information regarding specific statements the physician made to patients and on insurance claims.