A Texas doctor has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting to falsely diagnosing patients with severe illnesses, administering unnecessary and harmful treatments, including chemotherapy, and defrauding insurance programs of millions of dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Doctor misdiagnosed patients to steal $118 million from Medicare and Medicaid
Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a 68-year-old rheumatologist, deliberately misdiagnosed healthy patients with life-threatening conditions, subjected them to dangerous treatments, and billed Medicare and Medicaid for fraudulent claims totaling approximately $118 million. Prosecutors revealed that he pocketed over $28 million from these schemes, which he used to buy luxury cars, high-end properties, and even a private jet.
A federal judge has ordered Zamora-Quezada to repay the $28 million he received from insurers and sentenced him to a decade behind bars. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that his actions defrauded taxpayers and caused lasting harm to his victims.
Patients suffered strokes, organ damage, and debilitating pain
Court documents detail how Zamora-Quezada’s unnecessary treatments left patients with severe, sometimes irreversible health complications. Many developed strokes, jawbone necrosis, liver damage, and extreme pain that made daily activities nearly impossible.
One young patient described feeling like he was “living a life in the body of an elderly person.” Another victim, Miranda Hinojosa, testified that she has been bedridden since age 11 due to the chemotherapy Zamora-Quezada wrongfully administered.
DOJ condemns doctor’s “two-decade reign of medical terror”
The DOJ issued a scathing statement, saying, “Dr. Zamora-Quezada funded his luxurious lifestyle for two decades by traumatizing his patients, abusing his employees, lying to insurers, and stealing taxpayer money.”
Investigators found that the doctor systematically targeted vulnerable patients, convincing them they had chronic illnesses that required aggressive—and often harmful—treatments. Other medical professionals who reviewed his cases confirmed that many of his diagnoses were entirely fabricated.
