{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Justice Impact Show","title":"A $250 Billing Dispute, a $15 Million Indictment, and a 93-Page Acquittal - Dr. Ron Elfenbein","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":5409,"description":"In June 2021, Maryland's governor handed Dr. Ron Elfenbein a personal citation for his pandemic work. Ten months later the federal government indicted him for the same work. He was convicted, then acquitted by the chief judge in a 93-page opinion, then had that acquittal reversed on appeal — and he's now awaiting retrial. He joins JP Maroney and co-host Stephen Keller to walk through how a disagreement over a billing code became a federal criminal case.\nFull show notes\nDr. Ron Elfenbein ran what became Maryland's largest private COVID-19 testing operation — from six employees to eight sites and more than 300 staff in about fourteen months. He set up monoclonal antibody infusion centers in rented volunteer ambulance halls, partnered with HHS on a site at FedEx Field, and says his practice tested more than 300,000 people and infused over 5,000.\nHe was also loud. In December 2021, after the federal government wound down the monoclonal antibody program, Elfenbein went on Fox News and said the decision would cost lives. He repeated it on Newsmax. Four months later — to the day, he says — he was indicted on federal health care fraud charges.\n\nThe case came down to a coding question. Prosecutors focused on five patient encounters out of more than 100,000 in the relevant window, arguing the visits were billed at a Level 4 evaluation and management code when a lower level applied. Elfenbein puts the per-visit difference at roughly $50. The government extrapolated across the practice's claims and put the figure at $15 million.\n\nA jury convicted him on five counts in August 2023. Four months later, Chief Judge James K. Bredar — an Obama appointee — granted a judgment of acquittal in a 93-page opinion, finding the government had not carried its burden, and conditionally granted a new trial in case the acquittal was reversed. The government appealed. In July 2025 the Fourth Circuit affirmed the new-trial order but reversed the acquittal, and the case was remanded. Judge...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/nhl0jt9yc9bMTB_w4VRpw7Z_uzhEePkeYKE_stSpF8g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82MTA0/ZTY5NzVmYzAxZTk2/YTUwMTcwYTBlMTAx/MDM4Yi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}