Kishore Response to Mass Board of Medicine

BOSTON - Sept. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore had a vibrant medical practice focusing on the needs of the addicted community (drugs, alcohol and prescription drugs) for more than thirty years. He had been the innovator and founder of the Massachusetts Model of Addiction Recovery, a program focused on helping the drug and alcohol addicted stay sober over the long term. The Model was extremely successful for many years.

Incredibly, in 2011, as a result of the over-aggressive political reach of the former state's Attorney General, Martha Coakley, Dr. Kishore found himself the target of alleged Medicaid fraud. This happened even though he was audited biannually since 1996, and Medicaid revenues constituted only about 25% of the income earned by his company  (Preventive Medicine Associates).

Following an unsuccessful sting operation in 2009 and after more than four years of a meandering grand jury investigation, 4 Sober House operators and Dr. Kishore were charged with an alleged 'Complex Kick Back Scheme'. Inexplicably, no Department of Public Health run half way houses were charged despite the fact that Dr. Kishore also had contracts with them.

Dr. Kishore's 52 Clinics, with over 250,000 patients were forced to close.  This highly questionable prosecution by Ms. Coakley was all the more disheartening in light of the current Heroin Epidemic gripping the state. The systematic wrap around services and Vivitrol based clinics that promote Sobriety Maintenance were gone; no alternatives to his successful treatments were made available. Unintended consequences are now painfully obvious to those families suffering from overdoses and addiction.

After fighting the charges for more than three years and spending more than $1.6 million in legal fees, Dr. Kishore was forced into accepting a plea deal that involved pleading guilty to one count of theft, as Dr. Kishore was unable to raise more funds for his defense.

This was done at the insistence of his legal counsel, Mark Berthiaume and Timothy McGuire, of Greenberg Traurig, who warned Kishore that he would face deportation following an extended incarceration if he refused the deal.

Under considerable duress and with great reluctance, Dr. Kishore agreed to the plea deal, which required him to resign his medical license.

However, the story is not over. Dr. Kishore intends to continue to fight to clear his name and reputation and return to the work he pioneered.