(WHAS11) -- Brenda Lowery worked for Dr. Kamal Tiwari for 13 months, ever since February 2009.
At the time, the Indiana Attorney General's Office was investigating her boss and filed a complaint in April accusing the doctor of contributing to the deaths of five patients.
Lowery says she thought all along he was shady.
"You can get on Google and search for him and he thinks he's the best doctor there is and he's not," Lowery said.
You can also Google him and find 15 federal charges against Dr. Tiwari; charges that include health-care fraud, health-care fraud resulting in serious bodily injury and 13 counts of illegal drug distribution.
The feds say between 2002 and 2007, the pain management doctor required patients to undergo unnecessary and painful medical injection procedures. Procedures like epidurals in exchange for narcotics; that included Percocet, Oxycontin, Morphine and others.
"One person would have Morphine, 15 mg, three times a day, Percocets, up to six times a day and Benzo up to six times a day,” Lowery said. “How are these people walking? Then he'd put them off of it and they'd go crazy"
U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison says Tiwari would prescribe these drugs in a pattern and quantity that caused dependency for at least 16 patients, many of whom are over 50 years old.
"These injection procedures, we allege, were performed in a frequency and pattern that was not medically necessary and was outside the bounds of medical practice and not for legitimate medical purpose," Tim Morrison, U.S. Attorney, said.
The reason for these procedures, he says, was so Tiwari could bill Medicare, Medicaid and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Eventually, Tiwari bilked the insurance companies for $21.6 million.
Tiwari, who has Pain Management Centers in Bloomington, Indianapolis and New Albany, has practiced medicine since 1983, according to his resume. He established this office in 1994.
Lowery says he developed a reputation of being a drug pusher and at times would have 40 new patients a week.
But she said Dr. Tiwari caused patients in real pain, more pain.
"There would be times I would tell them, 'don't come back to him. Don't come see him. If you want something done right, come and see this other doctor,'" Lowery said.
Dr. Tiwari's license to prescribe narcotics has been suspended, but his license to practice medicine has not.
Brenda says she's sorry for the patients, or victims, of this doctor.
"I couldn't do anything for them, my hands were tied," Lowery said.
You can see the complaint and indictment filed against Dr. Kamal Tiwari by clicking on the links below.
http://images.bimedia.net/documents/Tiwari.Kamal.IN10+indictment.pdf
http://images.bimedia.net/documents/Complaint.Tiwari.4.30.10FILESTAMPED.pdf
