Wisconsin Substance Center Owes $2M in Fraud Case

A federal judge has ruled that a now-shuttered Wisconsin substance abuse center and its CEO owe the state and federal government more than $2 million in a Medicaid fraud case.

Online court records show U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller ruled that Brookfield-based The Healing Center LLC and its CEO and lone practitioner, Dr. Siamak Arassi, are liable for $2.3 million.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the center and Arassi in 2019. The lawsuit alleged Arassi ordered prescriptions for Vivitrol, an anti-addiction drug, in the names of former patients and billed Medicaid for reimbursements, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

He stockpiled the medicine and sold it to patients for more than $1,000 a month, the newspaper reported.

Arassi said in a statement posted on his website that he closed the clinic because he was tried of being harassed by “vindictive” regulators, including the Justice Department and the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board.