Georgia doctor sued over lead poisoning treatments
Federal investigators say a Fort Oglethorpe doctor injected thousands of patients with a dangerous lead poisoning treatment for more than a decade, even though they didn’t need it. Also, he allegedly billed the government for $1.5 million under false pretenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia filed a civil complaint on Monday against Dr. Charles Adams, of Personal Integrative Medicine on Cloud Springs Road. The prosecutors say Adams violated two counts of the false claims act.
According to the complaint, Adams diagnosed about 4,500 patients with lead poisoning from November 2008 to September 2015. But prosecutors say the patients did not show signs they needed the drug.
“Medically unnecessary services waste millions in taxpayer dollars each year and undercut the public’s trust in the medical profession,” Derrick Jackson, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Atlanta, said in a statement.
The issue of diagnosis comes down to the way Adams evaluated his patients, according to the complaint. Doctors are not supposed to prescribe medication unless a patient has been exposed to lead recently.
After that, they should evaluate whether a patient shows symptoms of the illness and evaluate their blood, looking at how much metal is in a patient’s system.
But, according to the complaint, Adams instead injected prospective patients with edetate calcium disodium, the drug that treats lead poisoning. The medication works because it sends a substance into the blood stream that binds to metal. Patients then urinate the metal out of their system.
If the patient urinated metal, Adams would then prescribe the treatment to them. But metal in your blood does not necessarily mean you have lead poisoning. The agent from the medication still will bind to the metal, and it will still exit your body. According to the American College of Medical Toxicology, this kind of “provoked urine test” is unreliable.
In the seven-year period, according to the complaint, Adams billed the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare for $1.5 million worth of chelation therapy, or treatment for lead poisoning. Adams did not return a call left with an assistant in his office.
The drug Adams administered is dangerous, with a label that warns of nausea, tremors and numbness. It also says the drug potentially can kill you.
According to the complaint, Adams billed his treatment as a method to slow the aging process. Supposedly, it would increase circulation, encourage bone growth and decrease blood pressure. He called the injections “alternative medical therapy.”
“The tremendous benefits experienced by thousands and thousands of people in the areas of heart disease, cancer prevention, diabetes, and chronic fatigue make Chelation Therapy a logical and practical choice for those fortunate enough to take advantage of it,” his website read.
In 2017, according to the complaint, Adams told investigators that he does not treat lead poisoning or metal toxicity. He said he treats a different condition called “excess body burden of heavy metals.”
The American Board of Medical Specialties has not certified Adams in internal medicine, according to the complaint. However, the American Board of Integrative Medicine and Holistic Medicine certified him.
“Dr. Adams testified that he is ‘not certain’ what holistic medicine entails, but holds himself out as a practitioner of ‘integrative medicine,’” a prosecutor wrote in the complaint, “which he explains involves ‘looking at supplements,’ as well as the use of ‘ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, different IV therapies.’”
His office, Personal Integrative Medicine, is located at 4085 Cloud Springs Road in Fort Oglethorpe.