In a recent case that has garnered significant attention, a former nurse practitioner from Butte, Montana, has admitted to falsely billing insurance approximately $61 million for vitamin B-12 injections, resulting in nearly $600,000 in false claims--including some claims that were backdated after her license had been suspended by the Montana Board of Nursing in 2022. The defendant, Tristan Ashley Svejkovsky, 40, also admitted to issuing prescriptions after her license had been suspended, including under another person's DEA registration. Svejkovsky currently faces up to 14 years in prison for these offenses.

If you're a licensed nurse practitioner or other professional facing disciplinary action from your licensing board, the Professional License Defense Team of the Lento Law Firm can help. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out our online form.

Ethical Violations, Fraudulent Activities

Svejkovsky's case highlights the critical issue of maintaining ethical standards within the healthcare profession, as well as the potential for progressive escalation once those boundaries are crossed. The fraudulent billing for vitamin B-12 injections began in August 2021, with Svejkovsky inflating the number of units per injection from one unit to an exorbitant 1,000 units, thereby increasing the payment from the insurance company from approximately $4.88 to $4,880 per injection. Once she began, she continued to submit increasingly larger claims even after the Board of Nursing was alerted to her behavior and suspended her license. One backdated claim in May 2022, a month after her license suspension, amounted to $15 million per injection for a new patient. All told, she received $593,583 from the false claims.

Implications for Licensing

Criminal consequences aside, this case serves as a sobering reminder of the potential repercussions that fraudulent activities can have on a nurse practitioner's license. Engaging in false insurance billing or any form of professional misconduct can lead to the suspension or revocation of one's license by the state nursing board. Such disciplinary actions are not merely punitive but are intended to uphold the integrity of the healthcare profession and protect patients from unethical practices.

For nurse practitioners, the consequences of losing a license can be devastating. It not only disrupts one's career but also tarnishes one's professional reputation, making it difficult to regain trust and find future employment within the healthcare sector. We should also note that although Svejkosky admitted to her wrongdoing in this case, nursing boards take any allegation of wrongdoing seriously--even those that may be incorrectly based on circumstantial evidence or false accusations. Nursing boards can suspend or revoke a license based only on a preponderance of the evidence--that is, without conclusively proving the licensee's guilt.

How We Can Help

Whether you have made legitimate mistakes or been falsely accused, if you are a nurse practitioner or other licensed professional facing accusations of professional misconduct, your best hope of protecting your license and your career is with the help of an experienced license defense attorney. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team has extensive nationwide experience helping nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, other medical professionals, and other licensed professionals who are facing disciplinary actions from their respective boards.

We understand the gravity of license-related issues and the impact they can have on your career and livelihood. Don't wait until it's too late—at the first sign of trouble, contact the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or fill out our confidential online form.