Nutritionist with an office in Ridgewood sentenced to 2 years probation for health care fraud
August 05, 2013
the staff of the Ridgemwood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A Ridgewood New Jersey nutritionist will not have to serve any jail time for falsely claiming thousands of dollars from insurance companies for counseling services that never took place.
Azadeh Ahmadi was sentenced Friday to two years probation and was ordered to pay $22,134 in restitution. Ahmadi pleaded guilty to health care fraud. Authorities say the fraud occurred between May 2005 and June 2007 and Ahmadi was initially was indicted on two counts of health care fraud and two counts of theft by deception
Authorities say the 43-year-old Ahmadi, with offices in Ridgewood and Passaic, billed insurers for bogus nutritional counseling and tests to several patients with diabetes.
More importantly, what kind of medical license does he have…. and does this charge and sentence affect his continuing to practice?
Nutritionists are not required to be licensed. You could put a shingle in front of your house and call yourself a nutritionist and be subject only to zoning laws regarding where a business may be located.
For a licensed professional, consult a registered dietitian (RD or RDN). That’s whom you’ll find at a hospital, say; never a “nutritionist.”
Sounds the same, but it’s not. Some nutritionists are honorable; others take advantage of the same-sounding word. Semantics rules!
I think the “Nutritionist” field has pretty low barriers to entry. Comparing Nutritionists, Chiropractors etc to actual medical professionals is like comparing your kids’ bath toys to the US Navy.
You can learn just as much from the internet as you can from a “Nutritionist”.