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For Immediate Release: July 5, 2007
Contact: Keary McCarthy BWC Special Investigator on CNBC Series American Greed Court orders repayment of more than $40,000 to BWC Columbus, Ohio – The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) will be featured on a new CNBC series called American Greed tonight at 9:00 P.M. EST. Investigations Supervisor Mark Bentley will discuss the efforts of the SIU and those of fellow law enforcement agents to identify, pursue, and prosecute Dr. Jorge Martinez. Now serving a life sentence, Martinez was an anesthesiologist who specialized in the practice of pain management in Northeast Ohio. Martinez first came to the attention of BWC investigators when a large number of nerve-block injections and prescriptions for drugs such as OxyContin were inordinately billed. Martinez’s actions led to the death of two patients, one of whom was an injured worker receiving compensation through the BWC. “Protecting injured workers is of fundamental importance at BWC, whether it is at the workplace or from unscrupulous health care providers who use them for their own greed,” said BWC Special Investigator Mark Bentley. In cooperation with the United States Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Health and Human Services Investigators, the SIU’s Health Care Fraud Team assisted with the investigation of Martinez’s deadly practices. Martinez was convicted in January 2006 of 56 counts, including drug distribution, mail, wire and health care fraud for prescribing unnecessary drugs. He is currently serving a life sentence. American Greed is a new series on CNBC that explores the worlds of scams, cons and schemes. In Case 2 of Episode #3 of the July 5 episode, Martinez’s case is discussed with commentary from BWC Investigator Mark Bentley and others. For more information on this new CNBC series, click on: American Greed. # # #
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
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