Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Tuesday that federal charges have been filed against a local doctor who allegedly submitted more than $4 million in false billings to Georgia Medicaid.
Murrell Rutledge, Jr., 52, was charged with 40 counts of health care fraud as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. The DOJ says the initiative has resulted in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals for their alleged participation in health care fraud totaling $6.5 billion in false claims.
“Medicare and Medicaid funds are intended to provide essential services to some of our most vulnerable populations. When individuals exploit these programs for personal gain, they not only steal taxpayer dollars but also compromise the integrity of these programs,” said Kelly Blackmon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, in a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Rutledge has operated Rutledge Medical Associates in East Point since 2014, according to authorities.
For roughly six years, beginning in January 2017, Georgia Medicaid was billed for thousands of fraudulent wound care, cyst removal, psychotherapy and allergy testing services. The DOJ says that:
- Between February 2019 and June 2022, Rutledge submitted and caused to be submitted nearly 900 false and fraudulent claims for purportedly excising and removing complex pilonidal cysts.
- Between January 2018 and June 2022, Rutledge submitted and caused to be submitted nearly 1,500 false and fraudulent claims for purportedly completing the incision and drainage of deep abscesses or hematomas.
- Between July 2017 and March 2023, Rutledge submitted and caused to be submitted nearly 7,900 false and fraudulent claims for extended, face-to-face psychotherapy sessions.
- Between January 2017 and June 2022, Rutledge submitted and caused to be submitted over 1,000 false and fraudulent claims for purportedly completing medically unnecessary percutaneous allergy tests.
Rutledge’s filings sought $4.3 million, with approximately $2.6 million actually paid out.
In addition to these charges, Carr’s office has announced a $375,000 civil settlement with Avant Interventional Psychiatry and Dr. Okah Anyokwu, M.D., to resolve allegations that psychiatric services were incorrectly billed to Georgia Medicaid.
Office officials claim that Avant was accused of billing Georgia Medicaid for services as if they had been performed by Dr. Anyokwu, when they had instead been performed by other Avant employees, some of whom were not licensed or enrolled as Medicaid providers.
“We’re prosecuting fraud in all its forms, and we’re fighting to protect taxpayer dollars,” said Carr in a Tuesday press release. “Let me be clear – if you steal from our Medicaid program, you will be held accountable and forced to pay back all the money you stole. This is a nationwide effort, and we’re proud to work with all of our state and federal partners to ensure the integrity of our publicly funded healthcare programs.”
