Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a rheumatologist in Edinburg with an office in San Antonio, is currently being held pending trial over allegations he misdiagnosed and over-treated patients to fund a “lavish” lifestyle. But this is not the first time the physician was disciplined for his practices.
Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a rheumatologist in Edinburg with an office in San Antonio, is currently being held pending trial over allegations he misdiagnosed and over-treated patients to fund a “lavish” lifestyle. But this is not the first time the physician was disciplined for his practices.
In 2009, Zamora-Quezada was among 75 doctors who were disciplined by the Texas Medical Board. Zamora-Quezada and the board agreed on a two-year public reprimand order for allegedly “ordering excessive laboratory tests and imaging studies for multiple patients without adequate justification or documentation,” according to a 2009 news release issued by the board.
The order required his practice to be monitored for those two years in addition to an independent audit of his billing practices to be conducted within 90 days, as well as the completion of 10 hours each of continuing medical education in medical recordkeeping, ethics and appropriate billing and coding. Also, Zamora-Quezada was required to pay an administrative penalty of $30,000 within a year.
A few years earlier, Zamora-Quezada faced a different set of allegations.
Four women who worked in his offices accused the doctor of sexual harassment. A jury sided with the women, ordering him to pay damages and back pay. However, a federal appeals court reversed the judgment on a claim by one of the women for insufficient evidence. The judgment for the other women was affirmed.
His current charges are one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The seven-count indictment unsealed Monday alleges he defrauded health insurers by billing for treatments based off of misdiagnoses.
A request for comment from defense attorney J.A. Tony Canales was not immediately returned.
Zamora-Quezada and his co-conspirators allegedly tried to conceal the source of money they made from the scheme by investing in commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States and Mexico.
Among the properties were two luxury penthouse apartments in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; a condominium in Aspen, Colorado; a condominium in San Diego, California; and one in Punta Mita, Mexico. They also purchase exotic cars and a private jet.
Data also purports to show that Zamora-Quezada does perform a high number of services and is ranked eighth out of 276 providers in the state and in his specialty, according to ProPublica’s Treatment Tracker.
That data also reflects an average of 89.1 services performed per patient, higher than the 59.5 average in the state and in that specialty.
The tracker is primarily compiled with data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
He is accused of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid and other health insurers in a scheme totaling $240 million.
On Wednesday, he was ordered detained without bond pending trial, though he has the option to appeal the order.
A final pre-trial hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 2.
