PainMD owner arrested, accused of attempting to defraud taxpayers of $38M

A Nashville businessman who led a pain clinic company accused of giving patients unnecessary injections has now been indicted on allegations that he attempted to defraud taxpayers with $38 million in false medical claims.

Michael Kestner, 67, the CEO and majority owner of PainMD, was arrested Tuesday. Kestner was escorted to a federal court hearing in handcuffs and shackles, then pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released pending trial.

Kestner's attorney, Peter Strianse, said after the hearing that all injections provided at PainMD clinics were "medically necessary" and intended to alleviate the need for opioid painkillers.

"Mr. Kestner was relying exclusively on the expert advice of doctors who told him this was an acceptable alternative to opioids and there was a good, sound, medical reasons for giving these types of injections," Strianse said.

Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2019/10/15/rinova-painmd-ceo-michael-kestner-arrested-fraud-pain-clinics/3985244002/