Clinic selling electrical stimulation pain relief pays $380K to resolve fraud allegations
A patient care clinic in Wisconsin has agreed to pay more than $380,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by causing Medicare to be billed for services that were not medically necessary, including vitamin injections.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Apple Medical Clinic—along with its proprietor Michael Johnson, MD—engaged in deceptive advertising, selling electric stimulation devices in combination with nerve density testing and the injections that, together, would allegedly reduce chronic pain.
Apple Medical and Johnson marketed the package of services as a "life-changing" treatment, a “last hope” that was also "covered by most insurances and Medicare," the DOJ wrote in its lawsuit.
However, authorities confirmed that the combined treatments, along with the way they were administered, were absolutely not covered by Medicare. The devices, developed by Nevada-based RST-Sanexas, were FDA-cleared for a very specific use, and National Coverage Determinations plainly state that electrical nerve stimulation treatments furnished by a physician, therapist or outpatient clinic are excluded from coverage.
Further, the DOJ alleged, Johnson worked as a “major national distributor” of the electric pain signal blocking devices, effectively violating federal anti-kickback statutes, given that he was compensated by Sanexas—which has been named as a defendant in related lawsuits, as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on fraud related to the sale and use of electrical stimulation devices.
In December 2025, Sanexas and its owners, Richard Sorgnard, Lisa Sorgnard and Morhea Sorgnard, agreed to pay out $1.5 million for their role in allegedly causing Medicare claims to be falsely submitted as part of a kickback scheme.
Providers using the devices would submit reimbursement paperwork to Medicare, wrongly believing services were covered as a result of the company’s false statements, the DOJ reasoned.
Many of the assertions regarding the efficacy of the pain treatments—as well as their eligibility for Medicare coverage—made by Johnson and Apple Medical echoed those Sanexas used in its marketing, the lawsuits state.
Nurses blow the whistle
The DOJ said that, since 2020, 90% of all services provided by Apple Medical involved the use of the Sanexas devices. This caught the attention of two nurse practitioners working at the clinic, who were responsible for filing the initial lawsuit against their employer under the False Claims Act.
Apple Medical allegedly began using the electronic block devices in 2019, after which time the two advanced practice practitioners allege hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims were submitted to Medicare to cover treatments.
Because no physical therapist was involved and a medical need was not determined, none of those treatments were eligible for reimbursement.
According to the two nurse practitioners, they were told as such by an insurance company representative in March 2021, which spurred them to file their fraud lawsuit.
They allege that Johnson was responsible for billing related to services involving the Sanexas medical devices.
Per the terms of the settlement with the DOJ, the nurse whistleblowers will receive $175,000 from Johnson and Apple Medical. The remaining $207,362.95 will be sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to recover losses to federal healthcare programs.
The civil lawsuit against defendants Johnson and Apple Medical is now resolved, the DOJ confirmed. No criminal charges were filed.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.