Dr. Jitesh Patel, an Indian-origin physician operating Advanced Urology in Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to pay $14 million to resolve allegations of healthcare fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the settlement addresses claims made under the False Claims Act and the Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act. The clinic was accused of billing Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs for procedures that were either not performed or medically unnecessary. The investigation was initiated after two whistle-blowers, Lorraine Perumal-Szramel and Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal, filed lawsuits alleging that the clinic prioritized profits over patient care. They reported practices such as unnecessary invasive testing and billing for complex procedures that were not actually conducted, a practice known as “upcoding.” The allegations included the implantation of devices without proper evaluation and excessive use of tests not standard in urology. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg described the fraudulent billing as a serious violation, while Georgia Deputy Attorney General Jim Mooney characterized it as theft of taxpayer funds. As part of the settlement, the whistle-blowers will receive $2.94 million for their role in exposing the fraud.