The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to step into a long-running criminal dispute involving a Maryland physician accused of exploiting the pandemic, clearing the way for a retrial in a case that has become a legal Rorschach test for how far medical billing ambiguity can stretch.
The decision not to hear the appeal sends the COVID scheme doctor suit back to federal court in Maryland, where Dr. Ron Elfenbein will again confront allegations that he defrauded the federal government of more than $15 million by inflating billing codes during the height of COVID-19 testing.
High Court Leaves Lower Ruling Intact
By turning away Elfenbein’s appeal, the justices left standing a ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found a jury had enough evidence to convict him and that a district judge erred by wiping away that verdict after trial.
The appellate court’s decision reopened a case that once appeared sealed. Elfenbein had initially been convicted on five fraud counts, only to secure a post-trial acquittal — a legal whiplash now reversed.
