Heart Check America Fined $3.2 Million

A Denver clinic known as Heart Check America has been fined $3.2 million by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for violations including failing to have a state-licensed physician supervise CT scans on patients.

In a ploy to cheat hundreds of people out of thousands of dollars, Heart Check allegedly used high pressure sales techniques to persuade customers to purchase scans. Customers paid thousands for the scans, but never received diagnoses.

Nearly 150 people were going to the Denver location to get scans. These people were potentially exposed to unnecessary radiation without a doctor's supervision.

Curious about the clinic's business, Colorado began investigating Health Check America in April. Soon after, Heart Check America closed its Denver clinic. The company also operates clinics in Nevada, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, California, and Washington, D.C.

The state of Illinois brought a lawsuit against Heart Check America in June for using sales tactics to get people to buy scans worth thousands of dollars.

Colorado has served Heart Check America's operators Sheila Haddad, David Haddad, and Lisa Haddad with notices of the fine. The three will have 30 days to either pay the fine or appeal it. Colorado alleges that the operators exposed patients to scans without doctor approval, kept inadequate records, and did not properly train its employees, among other things.

So far, health department investigators have found no cases of patients injured by having a CT scan at the Denver clinic. Medical experts say that you should not submit to an X-ray or any other scan using radiation without the recommendation of your doctor.