Dr. Shayasta S. Mufti, a former resident of Newark, Delaware, has agreed on Apr. 29 to pay $180,000 to resolve allegations that she violated the False Claims Act by ordering medically unnecessary genetic tests for more than 100 Medicare beneficiaries.
The case concerns the misuse of federal health care funds and raises questions about oversight and accountability in the Medicare system. The United States alleges that between April 2019 and November 2019, Dr. Mufti ordered costly genetic tests for patients with whom she had no established physician-patient relationship. The government says she did not examine these patients or use the test results in any treatment decisions.
According to authorities, many orders were based only on brief telemedicine consultations or sometimes no consultation at all. The tests often cost Medicare thousands of dollars per patient.
“Physicians who order unnecessary and expensive services, including genetic tests, drain critical resources from Medicare and other federal health care programs,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace. “These schemes not only waste taxpayer dollars, they undermine the integrity of programs that millions of Americans rely on. Our office will continue to use data analytics and work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify providers who misuse federal funds and to hold them accountable.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Laksin and Auditor David Cheung handled the case.
The settlement agreement is available through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware website along with related court documents via PACER by searching Case No. 25-771-MN.
Authorities emphasized that these claims are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
