Amite mayor pays $270,000 to settle Medicare charges

Amite Mayor Reginald E. “Reggie” Goldsby paid $270,000 to settle allegations he caused Medicare to pay more than $400,000 in improper claims, federal officials confirmed Thursday.

“He is alleged to have violated the False Claims Act,” U.S. Attorney David Dugas, of Baton Rouge, said in a written statement.

Dugas said federal investigators accused Goldsby of signing certificates of medical necessity and writing prescriptions for motorized wheelchairs for people whose medical conditions did not meet the Medicare requirements.

Goldsby, a family-medicine physician who has served 24 years as mayor, is seeking re-election Oct. 4.

He declined to comment and referred all questions to his Hammond attorney, Duncan S. Kemp III.

The agreement that settled the dispute was signed July 9 by Goldsby and includes the government’s allegation that he went to church health fairs at the request of a wheelchair supplier. That supplier is alleged to have paid Goldsby $300 to $500 per wheelchair prescription at those health fairs in 2003 and 2004.

[No Kemp Fan]

Dr. Goldsby should have gotten a real attorney instead of Kemp. Kemp can't win any case