JOSEPH ARCURI

Arcuri, a chiropractor in Niagara Falls, was first disciplined in 2010 after his clinic submitted 374 claims, amounting to $24,000, for massage therapy that was never provided. His initial 12-month suspension was reduced to six months when he completed a recordkeeping workshop and an ethics exam.

Arcuri hired another chiropractor to see patients during his suspension, but that chiropractor became suspicious that Arcuri was still seeing patients. College investigators following up found that Arcuri made claims to an insurer for patient treatments under the other chiropractor’s name. Those treatments were bogus.

When investigators met with Arcuri, they asked to see invoices, patient ledgers and statements of accounts for 15 patients, but Arcuri said he didn’t keep that information. When the investigators asked to see his appointment book, Arcuri said he was “locked out” of his Google calendar. When they asked for the 15 patient files to be handed over, Arcuri simply left his office.

The investigators later returned with a search warrant for the 15 patient files, but when Arcuri handed them over, nine files were missing and had been replaced with other files. After Arcuri said he didn’t know where the missing files were, the investigators searched the building and found two boxes of confidential patient files in a basement accessible to a next-door pizza restaurant. They could not find the nine missing files. Despite repeated requests, Arcuri never produced them for the college.

Discipline: 12-month suspension, which was lowered to seven months after Arcuri complied with various conditions, including another record-keeping course and ethics exam; costs of $10,000.

Response: The Star visited Arcuri at his Niagara Falls clinic in an attempt to discuss the allegations, but he declined to comment.

“You have no story really with me. You might be better finding another chiropractor that might respond to your questions,” he said.