Rachel Klemovitch, Assistant Editor03.08.24
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams announced a jury returned a guilty verdict against Laura Perryman.
She has been found guilty on two counts of Indictment charging Perryman with conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, and substantive healthcare fraud in connection with her company’s creation and sale of a fake medical device component.
According to the evidence of the trial, Stimwave was the medical device company where Perryman served as founder and CEO. The company manufactured and distributed implantable neurostimulation devices including the StimQ PNS System.
The device in question was a neurostimulator system designed to treat chronic pain through electrical currents to peripheral nerves. The device included an electrode component and a receiver that acted as an antenna to transmit energy from an external power source to the electrode component (the “Pink Stylet”).
From about 2017 up to and including 2020, Perryman engaged in a multi-year scheme to design, manufacture, and market a non-functioning component called the “White Stylet.” The White Stylet was marked as a receiver of radiofrequency energy however, it was made of plastic and could not function as a receiver.
The device was sold to doctors and medical providers for roughly $16,000. Stimwave instructed healthcare providers to bill medical insurance providers with two reimbursement codes—one for implanting the stimulator portion of the electrode component and one for the receiver.
Physicians told Stimwave they were having difficulty implanting the Pink Stylet because it was too long. Stimwave and Perryman knew it could not be trimmed without interfering with the functionality of the Pink Stylet.
Doctors experienced a substantial financial loss in purchasing the device without the receiver component to seek reimbursement for.
Per Perryman’s direction, Stimwave did not lower the price of the device, nor did Perryman recommend not implanting the device or the receiver if the Pink Stylet could not fit comfortably. Rather, Perryman directed the company to create the White Stylet as a misrepresented alternative to the Pink Stylet.
Since it was made out of plastic and did not contain copper, the White Stylet could be cut down to the size by the doctor. Perryman oversaw training that suggested doctors use the White Stylet and she directed other Stimwave employees to vouch for the efficacy of the White Stylet as a receiver.
These misrepresentations by Perryman cause doctors and medical providers to implant the White Stylet and submit reimbursement claims for implantation to health insurance providers, including Medicare.
U.S. Attorney Williams told the press: “Laura Perryman brazenly created a dummy medical device component — made entirely out of plastic — to be implanted into patients. She marketed that dummy component as a means for doctors to bill Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $18,000 for each implantation of the piece of plastic. She did this so that she could entice doctors to buy her device for many thousands of dollars. Perryman recklessly used patients as tools for financial gain, and this jury’s unanimous verdict sends a resounding message that individuals who defraud health care programs will be held criminally accountable.”
Perryman was convicted of one count of health care fraud with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
She has been found guilty on two counts of Indictment charging Perryman with conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud, and substantive healthcare fraud in connection with her company’s creation and sale of a fake medical device component.
According to the evidence of the trial, Stimwave was the medical device company where Perryman served as founder and CEO. The company manufactured and distributed implantable neurostimulation devices including the StimQ PNS System.
The device in question was a neurostimulator system designed to treat chronic pain through electrical currents to peripheral nerves. The device included an electrode component and a receiver that acted as an antenna to transmit energy from an external power source to the electrode component (the “Pink Stylet”).
From about 2017 up to and including 2020, Perryman engaged in a multi-year scheme to design, manufacture, and market a non-functioning component called the “White Stylet.” The White Stylet was marked as a receiver of radiofrequency energy however, it was made of plastic and could not function as a receiver.
The device was sold to doctors and medical providers for roughly $16,000. Stimwave instructed healthcare providers to bill medical insurance providers with two reimbursement codes—one for implanting the stimulator portion of the electrode component and one for the receiver.
Physicians told Stimwave they were having difficulty implanting the Pink Stylet because it was too long. Stimwave and Perryman knew it could not be trimmed without interfering with the functionality of the Pink Stylet.
Doctors experienced a substantial financial loss in purchasing the device without the receiver component to seek reimbursement for.
Per Perryman’s direction, Stimwave did not lower the price of the device, nor did Perryman recommend not implanting the device or the receiver if the Pink Stylet could not fit comfortably. Rather, Perryman directed the company to create the White Stylet as a misrepresented alternative to the Pink Stylet.
Since it was made out of plastic and did not contain copper, the White Stylet could be cut down to the size by the doctor. Perryman oversaw training that suggested doctors use the White Stylet and she directed other Stimwave employees to vouch for the efficacy of the White Stylet as a receiver.
These misrepresentations by Perryman cause doctors and medical providers to implant the White Stylet and submit reimbursement claims for implantation to health insurance providers, including Medicare.
U.S. Attorney Williams told the press: “Laura Perryman brazenly created a dummy medical device component — made entirely out of plastic — to be implanted into patients. She marketed that dummy component as a means for doctors to bill Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $18,000 for each implantation of the piece of plastic. She did this so that she could entice doctors to buy her device for many thousands of dollars. Perryman recklessly used patients as tools for financial gain, and this jury’s unanimous verdict sends a resounding message that individuals who defraud health care programs will be held criminally accountable.”
Perryman was convicted of one count of health care fraud with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.