TUCSON (KVOA) - It was supposed to be a new convenient option to help treat people suffering from Peripheral Arterial Disease, an all too common ailment for people with diabetes, but now Modern Vascular seems to be downsizing.
The News 4 Tucson Investigators have spent more than a year looking into the company, which is now facing more than a dozen civil lawsuits and a federal complaint accusing the company of Medicare fraud and illegal kickbacks.
The company has now shut down its Tucson and Albuquerque clinics.
The N4T Investigators have asked the company why they closed the locations, but they have not responded.
"It would be my guess the pressure has caused some of these shutdowns and maybe we'll see more," said Jenna Bailey an attorney with the Bailey Law Firm in Phoenix.
Her firm now has 10 cases against Modern Vascular.
"The general circumstances involved the allegation that Modern Vascular and its providers are doing unnecessary procedures for financial gain," she said.
Bailey's client Kae Barnes was one of the first former patients who spoke to the N4T Investigators. Barnes had to get a leg amputated after going through what she claims in her lawsuit was an unnecessary medical procedure.
"Every day it has an effect on me," Barnes expressed.
As previously reported by the N4T Investigators, Modern Vascular is accused by the Department of Justice of running a fraud scheme, Medicare fraud and offering illegal kickbacks to doctors. The location closures are happening not long after the federal government filed its complaint.
That case and all the civil cases are still ongoing.
In August 2021 Modern Vascular sent its Chief Medical Officer and a surgeon from Kansas City out to Tucson to do an interview with our Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander to defend themselves against the claims made in various lawsuits.
Surgeon Dr. Juan Carlos Correa said, "We all have complications no matter how good you say you are."
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Burkowitz told us, "We have data, we follow protocols and because it's done outpatient the total cost is a fraction of what's done inpatient." Â
We will update you as the cases against Modern Vascular move forward.
If you have a story you'd like us to investigate email us at investigators@kvoa.com or call our tip line at 520-955-4444.
