Spokane, Wash. — Wednesday, the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of Washington, announcing a more than $3.7 million settlement with MultiCare Health Systems.
According to their press release, MultiCare “will pay $3,728,000 to resolve federal and state allegations that it knowingly endangered patient safety and falsely and fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs for spinal surgery procedures performed at Deaconess between 2019 and 2021, By Dr. Jason Dreyer, formerly a licensed physician and MultiCare neurosurgeon.”
“The alleged violations by MultiCare show a wanton disregard for ethics and the medical principle to do no harm,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said. “This settlement is a win for patient safety and protecting public dollars to get people necessary healthcare.”
“We’re taught from the time that we’re little to trust our doctors,” Attorney for patients Bill Gilbert said. “So when something like this happens, the tragedy in it all is the betrayal. It changes our lives forever.”
The Eastern Washington USAO explained that the investigation into these claims took time, as several cases are intertwined.
In 2013, court documents state that Dreyer was hired employed at Providence’s St. Mary’s Hospital in Walla Walla.
In 2018, court documents further state that Dreyer was placed on administrative leave due to concerns raised by Providence medical staff, during which an independent review of his surgeries revealed concerns imaging was misrepresented in seven cases.
Dreyer resigned from Providence later that year.
In 2019, court documents say Dreyer sought a position at MultiCare for a neurosurgery role. During the hiring process, internal concerns were raised about his practice style and relationships. MultiCare later extended an offer of employment, and Dreyer began operating on patients in July 2019.
By September, court documents say a physician’s assistant expressed concerns about Dreyer’s surgeries.
Court documents further explain that around this time, The U.S. Attorney’s Office had an open investigation related to Dreyer’s time in providence, and six months later, Dreyer’s medical license was suspended due to an “immediate threat to public health.”
“Its from 2019 to 2021 where medically unnecessary surgeries were performed by Doctor Dreyer,” Eastern Washing US Attorney Pete Serrano said.
In 2023, Dreyer settled his civil case with the state, agreeing to pay more than $1 million and being excluded from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for nine years.
Serrano also told NonStop Local Dreyer is no longer practicing medicine in Washington as an osteopathic surgeon.
He further clarified that the recent settlement is the second associated with the MultiCare case, but the first to be signed.
“Although it’s a hard fight, not only do we get more money back, for the public, we are also able to provide the public with that much more information about the truly bad acts multicare engaged with for multiple years,” Lead Prosecutor Tyler Tornabene said.
The Multicare settlement is one of several settlements to come from Dr. Dreyers practice in Washington.
According to the Eastern USAO, Providence paid a $22.7 million settlement for claims during Dreyer’s employment in Providence.
And in 2023, Dreyer settled a case against him for more than $1 million.
NonStop Local reached out to MultiCare for Comment, they said:
“MultiCare Health System announced today that it has reached a final agreement to resolve a lawsuit brought by the United States and the State of Washington in connection with a complaint filed by the government in January 2024. The complaint concerned reimbursement for certain neurosurgical services provided by MultiCare’s former employee, Dr. Jason Dreyer, several years ago. The settlement resolves the allegations in the government’s complaint and does not involve any admission of liability or determination of wrongdoing. MultiCare’s decision to resolve this matter allows the organization to avoid the cost and uncertainty of continued litigation and focus its resources on its mission of providing
high-quality care to patients.
‘MultiCare is confident in the quality of care provided to our patients and the clinical decision-making of our providers,” said Bill Robertson, CEO of MultiCare. ‘MultiCare vigorously litigated the government’s allegations for nearly two years. The record that developed during that process speaks for itself. We are pleased to have resolved this matter and remain focused on delivering high-quality care to the communities we serve.’
Under the terms of the settlement, MultiCare will pay the United States and the State of Washington a total amount of $3.728 million.”
