Orlando, Florida, pediatrician Ishrat Sohail, MD, was arrested last week on charges of Medicaid fraud, accused of improperly administering vaccines provided through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, according to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH).
According to an FDOH press release, Dr Sohail had allegedly been administering VFC vaccines intended for those on Medicaid and the uninsured to patients covered under private insurance, and then billing the private insurer.
Additionally, the statement said, an investigation found that she was administering partial vaccine doses to patients while billing for the full dose. Because partial doses may not sufficiently protect children from disease, the FDOH has asked patients who received vaccines from Dr Sohail between 2016 and 2018 to consider revaccination with another provider. The department estimates that 500 children may have been affected.
Emergency Order Suspends License
According to the statement, State Surgeon General Celeste Philip, MD, MPH, has issued an emergency order suspending Dr Sohail’s license to practice medicine in Florida.
The department’s statement added, “There is also the possibility that Dr. Sohail did not follow best practices in maintaining the sterility of the vaccines she administered,” and the department urged any parent whose child was vaccinated by Dr Sohail and has had an adverse reaction at the injection site to contact the Orange County branch of the FDOH. The vaccines reportedly included those used to prevent hepatitis A, human papillomavirus (HPV), and whooping cough.
Kent Donahue, public information officer with the FDOH Orange County, told Medscape Medical News that as of Tuesday morning no calls reporting vaccine complications related to this case had come in. As to whether revaccination of children could result in overvaccination, he said the department routinely cross-checks databases to determine when a child received vaccinations over a lifetime to protect against overlap.
The investigation was conducted jointly with the FDOH and the Office of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
The statement gave this account of events leading to the arrest: In 2016, investigators found in a site visit that Dr Sohail had administered two vials of VFC vaccines to children covered by private insurance and then billed the private insurer. She was suspended from the VFC program for 2 months and then put on a corrective action plan under which she had limited access to the vaccines. In late January of 2018, investigators raided her office and found partially used single-dose vaccine vials in the refrigerator.
According to WKMG News 6, Dr Sohail posted bond and was released February 23 from the Seminole County jail, refusing to answer a reporter’s questions.
Dr Sohail also could not be reached for comment this past Monday.
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