Edmore pain clinic raided, “Dr. Bob” indicted
EDMORE — An Edmore pain clinic was raided Tuesday by federal officials as eight people were indicted for a Medicare and Medicaid kickback scheme.
Babubhai Rathod, also known as “Dr. Bob,” of Mount Pleasant owns and operates Lakeshore Spine & Pain with pain clinics in Edmore, Ludington, Mount Pleasant and more.
U.S. Attorney Donald Davis alleged in court documents that Rathod and seven others paid health care providers for referring patients to their businesses. The payments were fraudulently disguised as reimbursements for false expenses such as mileage, medical director fees, medical education and labor.
The alleged crimes date back to February 2011.
Others named in the indictment include Dr. Lino Dial Jr., administrator and systems analyst Rajesh Makwana, president and registered agent Raju Nakum, Dr. Muhammad Salman Rais, physician’s assistant Natalie Schutte, Dr. Andre Blair Smith and Dr. Niti Thakur.
All eight suspects appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan Southern Division in Grand Rapids.
Lakeshore Visiting Physicians at 1380 E. Main St. in Edmore remains open for business and is operating as normal, according to an employee who answered a telephone call this morning.
Elisabeth Waldon
Elisabeth Waldon is news editor of The Daily News, where she began as an intern in 2001. Her beat includes courts/cops/crime and Montcalm County government. She is also editor of The Carson City Gazette. She loves investigative reporting, telling small-town stories, frequenting music halls, experimenting with photography and being a wife and mother in the "Panhandle" of Montcalm County.Elisabeth Waldon has written 553 articles.
I hope they all get the maximum charges for the crimes. “We the People” end up paying for these types of crimes with our hard earned money in the form of taxes. My question is where did the money go??? Just another way to take advantage of what this great nation has to offer and ruin something good that people need. They should all be ashamed.