Los Angeles hospital CEO pleads not guilty to billing fraud

Rudra Sabaratnam, MD, CEO of Los Angeles-based City of Angels Medical Center, has pleaded not guilty to recruiting homeless people as phony patients and billing government programs for unnecessary health services. He and the operator of a health assessment center are charged with conspiring to receive and pay kickbacks for patient referrals. An indictment says millions of dollars were improperly billed to government programs by City of Angels and two other area hospitals.