Beverly Hills, California is home to Michael Omidi, a plastic surgeon who practices there. The telephone number to reach him at is 310-281-0155, and the address of his office is 9735 Wilshire Blvd #300 in Beverly Hills, California 90212, United States.
Julian Omidi, Michael’s brother, is currently making headlines for his involvement in a scheme to swindle insurance firms as well as the Tricare healthcare program. Claims totaling around 355 million dollars relating to the 1-800-GET-THIN lap-band surgery company were lodged by him.
Only a very small number of individuals are aware that Michael was also involved in the scheme, despite the fact that the name Julian Omidi is well-known. Michael, in contrast to Julian, who is no longer employed in the medical field, is currently operating a plastic surgery clinic in the Beverly Hills area.
In the next analysis, we are going to take a more in-depth look at Michael’s participation in the fraud. In addition to this, you would find out whether it is prudent to place your faith in Michael or not.
The Notorious 1-800-GET-THIN Scam of the Omidi Brothers – Involvement of Michael Omidi
Last year, the court found Julian Omidi guilty of 28 counts of wire fraud and 3 counts of mail fraud. He was also found guilty of making false statements relating to healthcare matters, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
However, Julian wasn’t alone in his operation. Michael Omidi had been a part of the 1-800-GET-THIN scam for a long time.
The Omidi brothers made headlines in 2012 when their staff members exposed their shenanigans. Here’s a screenshot of the new report:
According to the findings of the investigation, Michael Omidi and his brother attempted to cover up errors that resulted in the death of Paula Rojeski, a Lap-Band patient who resided in Orange County.
This weight-loss firm was being handled by Michael and Julian out of their offices in Beverly Hills. Additionally, the pair was instructing its personnel to convince patients to undergo operations that were not required by their medical conditions. In addition to this, they were invoicing insurance companies for procedures that they had not actually carried out.
Both Dyanne Deuel and Karla Osorio have prior experience working in surgical facilities. They have reported the hazardous and filthy circumstances that were present at the clinics when they worked for Michael Omidi, MD. They previously held this position.
In addition, they were both complicit in the series of errors that ultimately resulted in Paula Rojeski’s passing. People like Deuel and Osorio were among those who initiated legal action against the Omidi brothers by filing lawsuits.
They disclosed that during the procedure being performed on Paula Rojeski, the machine that was supposed to supply her with oxygen was accidentally turned off. In addition to this, the tube that was supposed to carry pain medication to her main vein became dislodged.
Following the completion of the procedure, Rojeski did not have a pulse, and she ceased breathing. However, the anesthesiologist did not inform the rest of the personnel for a period of fifteen minutes. As a result, by the time the emergency medical services arrived, it was already too late.
Michael Omidi instructed the anesthesiologist to remove the gap of 15 minutes from the report that he was writing. Additionally, he instructed his staff to remove the “defective equipment” that had been utilized in the operation and to replace it with the appropriate instruments. By doing it this way, the officials from the Los Angeles County health department and Coroner’s Office won’t find out.
In addition to engaging in such a heinous coverup, the Omidi brothers are responsible for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from various insurance firms.
Julian had created rules that mandated potential Lap-Band patients undergo at least one sleep test before being considered for the treatment. Then, he made use of the studies to locate a justification that gets THIN might use to persuade the insurance business to pre-approve the Lap-Band surgery.
After the patient had undergone the sleep study, the staff at Seek THIN would fabricate the results and use them to seek pre-approval for the patient’s treatment. Because of this, the insurance companies would be required to give their approval to make payments for the Lap-Band procedures based on misleading information.
GET THIN, a marketing company was compensated somewhere in the neighborhood of $41 million for the surgeries. Even in the event that the health insurance company decided not to pay for the surgery, the advertising company was able to send in bills totaling around $15,000 for each sleep study. Because of this, they were able to bring in an estimated total of $27 million.
Tricare, UnitedHealthcare, Health Net, Anthem Blue Cross, Operating Engineers Health, and a number of other insurance programs were counted among the victim healthcare programs.
However, it’s noteworthy that Michael Omidi is still operating as a plastic surgeon while his brother (and co-conspirator) is facing charges of fraud.
Michael Omidi, MD’s Additional Legal Conflicts
Michael submitted his application to the University of California, San Diego, for a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery in the year 2011. In order to do this, he was required to sign up with NRMP, and the beginning of his fellowship was scheduled for the summer.
On the other hand, an administrator at the Medical Board wrote an email to the University of California in San Diego, which forwarded the news article that I went over earlier in this paragraph. After some time had passed, the manager dispatched a second report to cover the events surrounding the GET THIN insurance scam.
After reviewing those reports, UCSD asked Omidi for permission to release them from their match obligation and waived the requirement. Michael was contacted by NRMP and informed of the waiver request; he did not object to the request, therefore it was granted.
In 2011, Michael applied to the University of California at San Diego for a cardiothoracic fellowship. For this, he had to register with NRMP and his fellowship was to start in the summer.
However, a manager at the Medical Board sent an email to the University of California at San Diego, which shared the news report I have discussed above. Later, the manager sent another report which covered the events of the GET THIN insurance fraud.
After going through those reports, UCSD requested a waiver of its match commitment to Omidi. NRMP notified him of the waiver request and it was accepted because Michael didn’t oppose it.
The reviewer states that Dr. Omidi did not bring the surgery to a successful conclusion. Instead, he botched the process to such a degree that he had to let a nurse finish the rest of the operation.
The treatment caused the reviewer to suffer from an illness for more than a month, and she was unable to walk upright until she visited a different doctor who attempted to correct the errors that Omidi made.
It is really challenging to run a plastic surgery facility when there are complaints of this nature available online. It is possible for this to result in a wide variety of issues. Michael Omidi, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach by not making any effort to improve his services or solve problems.
He employs a number of different marketing strategies in an attempt to bury them.
One of them is his Instagram account (@drmichaelomidi) where he posts pictures of his patients.
Verdict
The fact that Michael attempted to cover up the carelessness of his own clinic, which led to the death of a patient, is indicative of how little he cares about his clients.
In addition, Michael Omidi was a significant contributor to the fraudulent marketing scheme involving 1-800-GET-THIN. But he won’t be facing any serious repercussions for his actions. The entire burden of blame has been placed on his sibling.
It would be a poor decision to put your procedure in Michael’s hands. Someone who got rich by deceiving patients and insurance companies is not someone you can put your faith in as a reliable business partner.
You can also read: COO Richard T. Diver Charged by the SEC for Misconduct
