A 53-year-old Indian-origin neurosurgeon in the US was fined over USD 2 million for medicare fraud after falsely claiming to perform surgeries to implant electro-acupuncture devices.

Dr Rajesh Bindal from the Houston area was fined USD 2,095,946 after being accused of defrauding Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), US Attorney Alamdar S Hamdani said on Wednesday.

According to federal investigators, Bindal billed for invasive procedures typically requiring operating rooms, yet no such surgeries were conducted. Instead, the devices were merely taped behind patients' ears, often falling off within days.

In some cases, the procedures were performed not by Bindal himself but by a device sales representative or a physician assistant at his clinic, Texas Spine & Neurosurgery Center P.A., rather than in a proper surgical setting.

“A neurosurgeon like Dr Bindal knows the difference between real surgery and sticking a device behind someone’s ear,” said US Attorney Hamdani. “Despite being among the highest-paid specialists in medicine, he chose personal greed over integrity and patient care.” “This type of fraud not only wastes taxpayer dollars but undermines trust in healthcare providers and critical programs like Medicare. Dr Bindal’s actions deceived both the system and vulnerable patients,” said Jason E Meadows, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General.

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