Baton Rouge man who claimed to be doctor pleads guilty

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A Baton Rouge man is facing five years in jail, a large fine and supervised release after pleading guilty to false statements relating to health care matters.

Samrat Mukherjee, 35, of Baton Rouge, may have to pay “a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and a term of supervised release of three years,” according to the United States Department of Justice.

Mukherjee admitted as part of his guilty plea that he worked as a licensed paramedic for Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc., DOJ said.

They said he did not go to or graduate from a medical school.

Mukherjee “admitted that while employed by Acadian Ambulance he falsely held himself out to co-workers and friends as a licensed medical doctor,” DOJ said.

They said he also kept up the ruse by creating a fake residency match letter, fake medical degree and even went to a medical school graduation celebration.

While under the guise of a medical doctor, he saw patients in the ICU at multiple hospitals and received physician access privileges.

Mukherjee’s clothing included “Flight Surgeon” and “M.D.” insignias, DOJ said. They said he was also identified as a physician via badges from Acadian Ambulance and hospitals in the area.

For over a three year period between 2019 and 2022, “Mukherjee called in prescriptions to various pharmacies for himself and others,” DOJ said.

They said he claimed to be two doctors and had the power to write prescriptions.

“Mukherjee caused the pharmacies to submit claims to health care benefit programs, including
Medicaid and BCBSLA, for reimbursement,” DOJ said.

HHS-OIG investigated this case.

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