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In a recent healthcare fraud case from Chicago, former OB-GYN Dr. Mona Ghosh was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for running an insurance scam, submitting over $1.5 million in fraudulent claims for unnecessary procedures.
What Happened
According to the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) press release, Dr. Mona Ghosh, MD, OB-GYN, ran Progressive Women’s Healthcare in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Between 2018 and 2022, she billed Medicaid, TRICARE, and several private insurers for procedures that either weren’t done or weren’t medically necessary. These included ultrasounds, biopsies, STD screenings, and endometrial ablations. In some cases, she even performed invasive procedures without the patient’s consent, while they believed they were only getting a routine pap smear.
She also inflated the time and complexity of in-house and telemedicine visits, made her staff submit false claims, and even prepared fake medical records to back up the fraudulent reimbursements. Ghosh pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud last year. On 10 June this year, the judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison and ordered her to repay $1.5 million.
Voices of the Victims
Seventeen women spoke during the sentencing hearing, which wrapped up on Monday after being paused on May 29.
Many shared how they were charged for services they never received. One woman said:
“I felt like she supported me. In turn, when I’m finding the medical bills coming back for things that never happened, she fed on my vulnerability, on my weakness.”
Several women said they had gone in for a routine pap smear or cervical cancer screening, but were told their results were abnormal.
Others shared that while they were sedated, Ghosh performed additional procedures, some of which may have affected their ability to have children.
Here’s what patients have said about Dr. Ghosh on her Google reviews.
Why It Matters
Dr. Ghosh’s case isn’t just about billing errors—it’s about exploiting patients and public funds. By submitting fake claims to Medicaid and TRICARE, she misused healthcare programs meant for those in real need, diverting taxpayer money in the process. What makes it worse is that this wasn’t just paperwork—real people were harmed. Some women underwent painful and unnecessary procedures, including ones that reportedly affected their fertility.
“When physicians submit fraudulent claims to federal health care programs, they divert taxpayer-funded resources away from those who truly need them,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “Dr. Ghosh’s fraud scheme was particularly egregious because she endangered the health of her patients by performing unnecessary medical procedures, including procedures that severely limited some patients' ability to have children in the future. We applaud the victims’ strength to come forward and confront this defendant. Our Office will fight tirelessly for victims and work diligently with our law enforcement partners to safeguard taxpayer funds and hold accountable those who steal from the American public.”
The Department of Justice called this a “betrayal of trust,” where Ghosh prioritized money over patient safety. It raises serious concerns about how such actions went unnoticed for years, and how vulnerable patients and federal programs are to this kind of abuse.
What’s Next
Dr. Ghosh has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and has surrendered her medical license. She must serve at least two years before becoming eligible for supervised release. The court also ordered her to repay $1.5 million to insurers and over $600 to the victims.
(Input From Various Sources)
(Rehash/Pooja Bansal/MSM)
