It has been reported that a chiropractor has been sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in restitution for Medicare fraud. A federal jury in Peoria had convicted Carrie Musselman, 48, following a trial in February. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office Central Illinois district, Musselman stole more than $2.5 million from Medicare and a dozen insurance companies. Prosecutors say Musselman defrauded the insurers in multiple ways. For example, Musselman submitted fraudulent insurance claims for services that were not performed by medical doctors as claimed, but instead by mid-level providers, resulting in a higher reimbursement. Musselman also did not provide certain services she claimed for reimbursement, such as allergy injections for patients.
According to prosecutors, they were given oral drops which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and were considered experimental. “This case should serve as a warning to anyone who would commit fraud against health insurance,” said Acting United States Attorney Gregory Gilmore. “We will seek out fraud, waste, and abuse and prosecute those who engage in it.” In handing down the sentence on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm also determined Musselman committed perjury in her testimony. He said Musselman was aware she was committing fraud and was encouraging the fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
______________________________
Here is what else I could find out about Musselman:
Carrie Ann Musselman graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri, in 2005, earning a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. She also holds a certification in massage therapy. She owns and operates Preferred Care Medical Center, located at 1932 S. Main St., Eureka, IL 61530, with additional offices at various times in El Paso, Monticello, Metamora, Peoria, and Roanoke. Her practice focuses on spinal adjustments and holistic healthcare, specializing in conditions like arthritis, back pain, neck pain, headaches, and poor range of motion.
In September 2022, Musselman was indicted on 13 counts, including one count of healthcare fraud, two counts of obstructing a federal audit, and ten counts of wire fraud (a federal crime in the US defined under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 involving the use of interstate or international communications (such as phone calls, emails, text messages) to intentionally deceive someone for financial or personal gain). A federal jury in Peoria convicted her on February 24, 2025, of one count of healthcare fraud and five counts of wire fraud for defrauding Medicare and other insurance companies out of over $1.5 million (with some sources citing up to $2.5 million) between May 2016 and November 2018. The obstruction charges were dropped.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Musselman engaged in multiple fraudulent practices at Preferred Care Medical Center:
- Misrepresentation of Providers: She falsely claimed services were provided by physicians when they were performed by nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants, leading to higher reimbursements. In some cases, Medicare would not have paid if the true provider was disclosed.
- Billing for Non-Rendered Services: Musselman billed for services not provided, such as neurostimulators and allergy injections. Instead of injections, patients received experimental oral drops unapproved by the FDA.
- Electroacupuncture Fraud: She misrepresented electroacupuncture as surgically implanted neurostimulators to secure payments that would otherwise not have been covered.
- False Statements During Audits: She allegedly provided false information about collaborating physicians during federal audits in November 2018 and December 2019 to obstruct investigations.
Everyone who has followed this blog for a while will know that such crimes by chiropractors are depressingly frequent.
10 Responses to Chiropractor stole more than US$ 2.5 m from Medicare and insurance companies
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
A problem of course is that we have no good data on criminality among SCAM practitioners in general and chiropractors in particular. Sure, I tend to agree that especially financial fraud seems rather common among chiros and other SCAM practitioners. But is it more common than in healthcare professions with similar job profiles? By which I mean independent practitioners with billing contracts with insurers.
Of course these people know that their line of work is controversial – after all, science says that they’re selling mostly useless and even harmful treatments – but does that indicate an increased willingness to commit ‘hard’ (financial) fraud? Do they indeed have lower ethical standards than regular healthcare professionals? I would tend to say ‘yes’, but without actual crime numbers, I think we should be careful in accusing a group of people of fraud (even though I and others here think that selling SCAM treatments is already a kind of fraud in and of itself).
https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2023/02/claims-expert-fraud-in-chiropractic-billing-has-become-an-issue/
There are many cases where MDs commited fraud, in some cases they colluded with chrios. But the
text I bolded above makes more sense if you take into account the fact that there are over a million MDs vs 70K chrios in US.
https://www.mastermindbehavior.com/post/chiropractic-statistics
https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/report/us-physician-workforce-data-dashboard
So you don’t know the difference between fraud and unnecessary?
Yes, it can be considered fraud if a chiropractor knowingly administers and charges for unnecessary treatments with the intent to deceive or mislead patients for financial gain. This falls under healthcare fraud, which includes billing for services that are not medically necessary or misrepresenting the care provided.
The OIG report looked at submitted claims and documentation, it did not look at the intent to commit fraud but within their findings it is likely that there are cases where fraud took place.
And yet, you posted this:
“So you don’t know the difference between fraud and unnecessary?”
Another case of a chiro accused of medicare fraud: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/07/22/chiropractor-accused-of-fraud-could-soon-face-million-dollar-default-judgment/. But we should all take a deep breath and give them the benefit of doubt. I am sure they did not intend to commit fraud. Perhaps there is a simpler explanation: maybe they are too lazy and/or incompetent file proper medicare paperwork.
I am sure most if not all chiros are very honest people. A lot of them, by accident administered unnecessary treatments and billed medicare that ended up costing taxpayers over $300 million dollars. Nothing to see here but sheer incompetence.
QUOTE
Another popular chiropractic myth was brought out every time the ACA was queried about the latest incident of chiropractic fraud or abuse. The standard reply was that irresponsible practitioners constitute only a tiny minority of the profession. Yet in reality, a healing art based on an unscientific theory — in this case, that spinal alignment is the key to good health — will inevitably result in malpractice.
Eric R. Baizer. Inside the American Chiropractic Association (1981): Selling The Chiropractor As a “Family Doctor”. Chirobase. 1983.
https://quackwatch.org/chiropractic/general/baizer/
At the risk of being accused of “whataboutism”, Prof. Ernst, you forgot to mention this:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/national-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-324-defendants-charged-connection-over-146
Not just whataboutism, you’re also trolling as usual.
You still haven’t answered the vitally important question I put to you in this thread:
https://edzardernst.com/2025/06/after-seeing-the-chiropractor-i-was-seeing-things-and-blacking-out/#comment-156342
BTW, you initiated that thread with:
Which demonstrates that you’re also a liar. Edzard and I each replied here:
https://edzardernst.com/2025/05/another-stroke-following-chiropractic-neck-manipulation/#comment-156083
You’re also a useful idiot, for which I thank you.