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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
After being indicted a second time with 46 new charges for medical misconduct and healthcare fraud, lawyers for Dr. Sanjeev Kumar are pressing for a dismissal of the case, citing the government is engaging in “vindictive prosecution” in rebuttal for almost half of the initial charges being thrown out.
17 of the original 36 charges were dismissed by a federal judge last month, but the federal government levied 46 new charges on Oct. 30, claiming Kumar “engaged in a series of crimes, frauds, and other acts that abused the trust of both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and his patients.”
The charges include 36 counts of reusing/repurposing single-use medical devices and 10 counts of health care fraud for performing unnecessary procedures.
In their motion to dismiss the latest indictment, Kumar’s attorneys claim the government has “gone too far” and has no right to bring more serious charges against him after nearly half of his initial charges were dropped, calling the entire proceeding “vindictive prosecution”.
“From day one, the Government has tried desperately to paint the picture of Dr. Sanjeev Kumar as a rapist for conducing alleged medically unnecessary procedures,” the filing states. “Dr. Kumar is a respected member of the community, an award-winning physician, and an individual with no past criminal history.”
During his court appearance on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Kumar’s defense attorney Ronald Chapman announced intentions to file two motions to dismiss, alleging the government has been unable to specify how or when the medical devices were reused.
“The problem with this indictment is it still doesn’t specify when the government believes these devices were reused. That’s a very big problem. When somebody is accused of criminal activity, they should be able to know the date that that criminal activity occurred,” Chapman said. “There’s going to be two separate motions to dismiss. The vindictive prosecution motion was filed very quickly by us because it’s not constitutional, it’s not appropriate for the government to respond to somebody exercising their constitutional rights, filing a motion to dismiss and winning that motion to dismiss, it’s not appropriate to supersede an indictment and add additional counts in response to that.”
Due to the large number of motions submitted by both the prosecution and defense, the judge suggested pushing the date of the federal trial to extend the timeline for both sides to issue written responses and for the judge to then rule on them herself.
But the defense remained adamant that they want the trial to proceed sooner rather than later. “We feel strongly about our case, we want to get in the courtroom, we want to get in front of a jury, we want to have this trial, we don’t want to delay,” said Chapman.
At this juncture, the federal trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Who is the mystery “judge” who dismissed 1st charges? Is he/she still in charge?