Doctor Billed the Feds Millions for Treating Dead Patients

A Georgia physician who submitted tens of thousands of bogus Medicare and Medicaid claims for counseling sessions with dead patients pleaded guilty Monday in federal district court to two counts of health care fraud.

Between 2007 and 2009, Dr. Robert Williams, 72, of Atlanta submitted more than 50,000 Medicare and 40,000 Medicaid claims totaling more than $2 million for group psychology sessions in nursing homes -- despite the fact many of his "patients" were deceased.

"With so many elderly citizens and others who need specialized psychological care, this defendant ignored his duty as a doctor and became a billing machine who claimed to treat patients who were in fact dead," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement.