DOJ: Texas doctor sentenced to 10 years in $70M Medicare fraud scheme

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Texas doctor was sentenced Wednesday and will serve 10 years in prison in connection with a "scheme to defraud Medicare" for $70 million. He was also ordered to pay more than $26 million in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the DOJ, court documents said 61-year-old David M. Young, M.D., of Fredericksburg, signed thousands of medical records and prescriptions for medical equipment and cancer genetic testing without treating patients.

"Young prescribed braces and genetic tests for over 13,000 Medicare beneficiaries, including undercover agents posing as different Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom he did not see, speak to, or otherwise treat," the DOJ said in the release.

Furthermore, the false prescriptions Young prescribed were used by brace supply companies and laboratories, which were then billed to Medicare for more than $70 million, the release said. Young was then paid around $475,000.

Young was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, as well as three counts of false statements related to healthcare matters in May 2024, according to the DOJ.