STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ) REGULATION, BOARD OF )

MEDICAL EXAMINERS, )

)

Petitioner, )

) CASE No. 86-3974

vs. )

) WILLIAM R. GRECO, M.D., )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, this cause came on for hearing on December 10, 1986, in Tallahassee, Florida before Sharyn L. Smith, a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings. The parties were represented as follows:

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Phillip B. Miller, Esquire

Robert D. Newell, Jr., P.A.

200 South Monroe Street Suite B Tallahassee, Florida 32301

For Respondent: No Appearance.

Received into evidence for Petitioner were Exhibit Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1 is a certification of licensure for Respondent dated November 7, 1986 and signed by Clarence A. Golightly, Jr., Custodian of Licensure Records for the Department of Professional Regulation, Board of Medical Examiners. Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2 is a composite of documents received from the Maryland Court of Appeals consisting of a ten-count indictment of Respondent in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City; the memorandum opinion of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in the case of State of Maryland v. William

1. Greco, Indictment No. 18312601; the docket entries from the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in Case No. 18312601; the opinion of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, William R. Greco v. State of Maryland, Case No. 171, dated November 6, 1985; and the Mandate of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland in Case No. 171, dated December 6, 1985. Petitioner's Exhibit No. 3 is a composite of documents from the United States Department of Health and Human Services regarding the suspension of Respondent from participation in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.

   
   

   In addition to the above exhibits, official recognition was taken of the opinions of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and the Maryland Court of Appeals styled as Greco v. State, 65 Md.App. 56, 499 A.2d 209 (1985) and Greco

   v. State, 307 Md. 470, 515 A.2d 220 (1986).

   No witnesses testified at the hearing and no transcript of the hearing was prepared.

   
   

   FINDINGS OF FACT

   
   

   1. Respondent was originally licensed to practice medicine in Florida on August 15, 1956. Respondent's license was placed on inactive status on December 13, 1979, and currently remains on inactive status. Respondent's last known address is 6201 Riverdale Road, Riverdale, Maryland 20801 (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1).

      
      

   2. On May 6, 1983 Respondent, by Indictment No. 18312601, was indicted for six counts of Medicaid fraud, three counts of false pretenses and one count of theft in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2).

      
      

   3. On March 12, 1984, after Respondent's bench trial, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City ordered a judgment of conviction as to the six counts of Medicaid fraud. Respondent was acquitted of the other four counts of the indictment (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2, P. 39 of the memorandum opinion). Respondent's conviction resulted from the inclusion of nonallowable costs in applications for Medicaid funds submitted by Magnolia Gardens Nursing Home while Respondent was the administrator and a 50 percent owner of the nursing home.

      The trial court specifically found that Respondent knew that nonreimbursable costs for construction done to Respondent's personal residences and medical office building were included in applications for Medicaid payments (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2, p. 39 of memorandum opinion). Use of Medicaid funds for improvements to a private physician's office is a violation of Maryland state law which clearly relates to the practice of medicine.

      
      

   4. As a result of Respondent's conviction for Medicaid fraud, he was sentenced to concurrent five-year terms of imprisonment on each of the six counts. All but 18 months of the sentence was suspended. Respondent was placed on 18 months of work release and 18 months of community service after work release at the rate of 20 hours per week. Respondent was also fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $50,000 restitution. Additionally, Respondent was placed on two years of unsupervised probation (See docket entry of April 23, 1984, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2).

      
      

   5. On April 30, 1984 Respondent appealed his conviction to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland (See docket entry of April 30, 1984, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2).

      
      

   6. On November 6, 1985 the Maryland Court of Special Appeals rendered its opinion in William R. Greco v. State of Maryland, Case No. 171 (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2). Respondent's conviction was affirmed in all aspects and Respondent's sentence was affirmed as to the order to make restitution which was vacated (See Mandate of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, dated December 6, 1985, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 2).

      
      

   7. On October 3, 1986, the Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed the decision of the Court of Special Appeals. Greco v. State, 307 Md. 470, 515 A.2d 220 (1986).

      
      

   8. On December 4, 1984 Respondent was suspended from participation in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs for a period of ten years (Petitioner's Exhibit No. 3).

      CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

      
      

   9. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter of this proceeding.

      
      

   10. Section 458.331(2), Florida Statutes, empowers the Board of Medical Examiners to discipline physicians on any of the grounds contained in Section 458.331(1), Florida Statutes. Section 458.331(1)(c), Florida Statutes, allows a physician to be disciplined for being convicted or found guilty regardless of adjudication of a crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to the practice of medicine or to the ability to practice medicine.

       
       

   11. Respondent by his conviction of six counts of Medicaid fraud in Maryland which subsequently led to his ten-year suspension from the Medicare and Medicaid programs has violated Section 458.331(1)(c), Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Respondent's license to practice medicine be revoked.

DONE and ORDERED this 30 day of December, 1986 in Tallahassee, Florida.

SHARYN L. SMITH

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 30th day of December, 1986.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Stephanie A. Daniel, Esquire Department of Professional

Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

William W. Cahill, Jr., Esquire WEINBERG and GREEN

100 South Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Dr. William R. Greco 6201 Riverdale Road

Riverdale, Maryland 20737

Fred Roche, Secretary Department of Professional

Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Salvatore Carpino, Esquire General Counsel

Department of Professional Regulation

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Dorothy Faircloth, Executive Director

Board of Medical Examiners

130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 86-003974

Orders for Case No: 86-003974