DOJ Joins Medicare Fraud Case Involving Emerging Solutions
Washington, DC, July 22, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Notice of Intervention in Federal Court in the Northern District of Texas in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Phillips & Cohen LLP and Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel. The lawsuit alleges that the national, Dallas -based distributor, Master Equity Texas Limited Partnership d/b/a Emerging Solutions and its CEO Michael Bingham induced physicians, medical practices and other healthcare providers to bill Medicare for implantable neurostimulators to relieve pain despite knowing the devices were not FDA approved for pain relief. The medical device, which in reality was an electro-acupuncture device, was marketed under various trade names including “Drug Relief” and “Primary Relief.”
Altered FDA Documents and False Claims Alleged
The defendants allegedly altered an FDA document to convince its sub-distributors and providers that its device was FDA approved for pain relief. In fact, during the relevant time, the device’s only indicated use was for the reduction of opioid withdrawal symptoms. Defendants allegedly represented that the devices were covered by Medicare when they were not and instructed providers to use specific billing codes indicating surgical implantation of a pulse generator and electrode leads. These procedures were neither necessary nor performed. The whistleblowers are sub-distributors of Emerging Solutions.
Whistleblower Attorneys Highlight Impact on Patients and Providers
“Patients were given false hope, physicians were misled, and Medicare was fleeced,” said Jeffrey Dickstein, a partner and whistleblower attorney at Phillips & Cohen.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Phillips & Cohen and Waters & Kraus in September 2020. “The government, after methodically and thoroughly investigating our clients’ allegations, decided to fully intervene in the case,” said Amy Easton, a partner and whistleblower attorney at Phillips & Cohen. “We are fortunate that Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Robbins is pursuing this case.”
Case Information and Background on Phillips & Cohen
The qui tam complaint is:
About Phillips & Cohen
Phillips & Cohen has represented whistleblowers for over 30 years and is the nation’s most successful law firm in that field, with more than $13 billion in civil settlements and criminal fines collected as a result of their whistleblower cases. Phillips & Cohen represents whistleblowers in qui tam lawsuits as well as cases brought under the whistleblower programs of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. www.phillipsandcohen.com