Attorney General Accuses Medical-Scanning Company Of Fraud
CHICAGO (CBS) -- They sold thousands of people across the country medical scanning services they said could save lives.
But Thursday, the Illinois Attorney General charged the operators of Heart Check America with consumer fraud and deceptive practices.
Heart Check America centers in Tinley Park and Arlington Heights told its clients that Electron Beam Tomography, known as EBT, was state of the art technology.
Dr. Leonard Berlin, a radiologist and Rush Medical College professor, disputes that.
"For the last five years, the EBT is pretty much obsolete throughout the nation," Berlin said.
Heart Check America solicited patients on the phone and in mailings with offers of a free heart scan, saying the results could spot problems before symptoms occurred.
But former clients told CBS2 Investigator Pam Zekman that once they showed up for the free heart scan, they got a high-pressure sales pitch to pay hundreds of dollars for a full body scan and to sign contracts for thousands of dollars to get annual scans for 10 years.
Moses and Alicia Duran only agreed to pay $995 for body scans this year. The results were promised in three weeks.
But six months later, they have nothing to show for it, Alicia Duran says, "other than anger, other than frustration and disappointment -- and a credit-card bill."
Janice Richman and her husband, Richard Miller, were talked last year into signing a 10-year contract last year for $3,495 -- a discounted price, the salesman said. Like others, they also had to pay a yearly membership fee of $199.
"Sounded like a great deal," Richman said. "It turned out to be a scam."
Dr. Berlin says those 10-year contracts are a bad deal because the technology changes so quickly, the centers may shut down -- as many have -- and a patient's health could change dramatically.
"These people would be much better off putting the money in the bank," Dr. Berlin said.
Richman and Miller did get reports last year that showed cause for concern. But after follow-up scans this year, they never received their reports. For three anxious months, they called to complain and got a runaround then visited the center in Tinley Park and found it closed.
"I'm frustrated. I'm mad and I'm angry," Miller said.
That surprises David Haddad, who described himself as promotional and sales manager for Heart Check America.
"They should have gotten them right away," Haddad said, conceding that there were problems he attributed to a computer snafu.
"If they didn't get their report, obviously they would feel that way," Haddad said. "But we have had thousands of people who have sent us thank-you letters and testimonials."
Haddad says the centers have now been sold to a new group and will be doctor-owned. He says customers who did not get their reports will get them once the reorganization is complete and the new owners will honor those 10-year contracts.
The Attorney General wants a court order prohibiting Haddad and his mother, Sheila, who owns the centers, from operating any medical practice in the future.
And the state is seeking restitution for consumers who paid for services they did not get.
