A Los Angeles orthopedic spine surgeon Thursday hit back at ride-share giant Uber’s federal racketeering lawsuit against two law firms and the doctor for allegedly inflating personal injury claims in order to obtain high settlement payouts.
Uber Technologies filed suit in Los Angeles federal court against the Downtown L.A. Law Group, the law offices of Jacob Emrani and spinal surgeon Dr. Greg Khounganian, alleging the defendants participated in a scheme to inflate medical claims against the ride-hailing service through bogus injuries and unnecessary or overpriced surgeries.
Uber contends the personal injury lawyers named in the suit took advantage of a state-mandated $1 million ride-share insurance policy limit by fraudulently inducing “significantly larger settlement payments.”
The company says the alleged scheme was linked to minor vehicle accidents involving the service. Uber claims the defendants directed injured passengers to preferred medical providers — including GSK Spine in Encino and Radiance Surgery Center in Sherman Oaks — who allegedly performed unnecessary treatments and issued inflated bills, according to Monday’s filing.
According to Uber, the defendants exploited the insurance structure governing ride-share companies.
In a statement issued Thursday, Khounganian called the complaint a “completely baseless and unwarranted … political hit piece.” The doctor said the suit was an attempt by Uber to “bully doctors and their patients.”
The surgeon said the suggestion that he, or any medical facility he is affiliated with, is engaged in fraud “is not only categorically false — it’s potentially defamatory. Uber’s desperate attempt to cast doctors as villains is nothing more than a smokescreen to pivot attention away from its own mounting political losses and increasing regulatory oversight.”