Florida HIV/AIDS Infusion Clinic President Arrested for Allegedly Defrauding Medicaid

Sonia Rivera, president of Miami-based clinic Medlife Services, was arrested Friday for allegedly defrauding Medicaid out of $73,000 by improperly billing the program for the antiretroviral drug WinRho, the Miami Herald reports. According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, the case involved high amounts of WinRho billing done in the names of Victor and Delsa Ferran, two Miami-Dade physicians (Dorschner, Miami Herald, 1/12). State Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) in a news release issued by his office said that Rivera had used the clinic to fraudulently bill Medicaid over a seven-month period for the drug. The billings Rivera allegedly submitted were for quantities of the drug more than 100 times higher than the average for WinRho, the Miami Herald/Bradenton Herald reports. "To use a clinic that provides life-saving medications as a cover for fraud is unspeakable," McCollum said, adding, "Behavior of this type will not be tolerated." The clinic has been shut down, according to authorities. If Rivera is convicted, she faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $10,000, the Miami Herald/ Bradenton Herald reports (Miami Herald/Bradenton Herald, 1/12).

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