April Rose Ambrosio, a dentist, is facing 75 felony counts of insurance fraud in San Diego for allegedly running a billing scheme where she received more than $300,000 from eight insurance companies for services she never provided.
“Medical providers are held to the highest standard and their patients trust them to be honest when it comes to their care,” California's insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said in a statement. “Ambrosio violated that trust when she fraudulently billed for services she never performed.”
According to the Department of Insurance (“DOI”), an investigation revealed that over the course of three years Dr. Ambrosio submitted claims for as many as 28 root canals per patient that were never performed. The DOI asserted that Dr. Ambrosio also submitted claims for entire families where she said she performed more than 20 root canals on each family member.
“The audacity of this defendant's repeated fraud is astounding,” Summer Stephan, San Diego's district attorney, said. “Unfortunately, when insurance companies get ripped off, consumers ultimately pay the price through higher premiums.”
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].