Chesapeake Regional Medical Center has finalized an agreement to pay more than $19 million to insurers and victims of a former OB-GYN who performed medically unnecessary surgeries on female patients.<\/p>\n
As part of the deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice \u2014 which was finalized Friday \u2014 the hospital accepts responsibility for and admits to a lengthy set of facts and agrees to take on a number of additional remedies.<\/p>\n
The hospital was indicted<\/a> in January 2025 for suspected healthcare fraud and conspiracy. The charges were related to Javaid Perwaiz, a former surgeon who is serving a 59-year federal prison sentence<\/a> after a jury found him guilty in 2020 of defrauding insurance companies of over $20.3 million by performing hysterectomies and other medically unnecessary procedures on female patients.<\/p>\n As part of the new agreement, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center admits to a statement of facts, including that it received millions of dollars in reimbursements from insurers as a result of the unnecessary surgeries. Additionally, the statement of facts said co-workers warned hospital leaders repeatedly about Perwaiz\u2019s unnecessary surgeries, but they allowed the surgeon to continue working.<\/p>\n If the hospital abides by the terms of the agreement, the Justice Department will end the criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n Of the agreed upon payments, the hospital will pay roughly $6.4 million to insurers such as Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare for the surgical procedures. Additionally, the hospital agreed to set up a patient restitution fund of about $12.8 million, which will be used to pay former patients harmed by the procedures.<\/p>\n In a statement, hospital spokesperson Vincent Rhodes said the medical facility worked with the Justice Department for months to reach a resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst and foremost, we express our sorrow to the women and families impacted by these events for all that they have endured,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cWe also must reflect on and take responsibility for our organization\u2019s role in the past relating to this physician\u2019s practices.\u201d<\/p>\n Rhodes said the hospital had also agreed to implement enhanced safety standards, including \u201chiring an independent external expert to review our compliance program, enhancing the role of compliance leadership, formalizing an annual compliance work plan, updating training and including medical necessity as part of our billing audit process.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement comes after the hospital signed off on a tentative agreement<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n The settlement agreement does not have any bearing on a separate civil lawsuit filed<\/a> against the hospital by patients of Perwaiz. More than 1,000 women are seeking monetary damages and other remedies for unnecessary surgeries performed on them by the former obstetrician. They allege the hospital and its executives are responsible for allowing Perwaiz to continue operating there after hospital staff continuously sounded alarms.<\/p>\n