Three Central Washington Sleep Clinics To Close After Doctor Receives One-Year Prison Sentence

Four sleep clinics in Central and Eastern Washington will soon be closing their doors after their chief physician was sentenced to a year in federal prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says that on March 25, Dr. Eric Haeger pled guilty to charges of adulterating and misbranding medical devices with the intent to defraud or mislead patients.

The 57-year-old Haeger was subsequently sentenced to 366 days in federal prison in U.S. District Court, and ordered to pay a fine of $60,000 and restitution totaling over $300,000.

Court documents indicate that, over a two-year period, Haeger purchased in excess of 500 used Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) machines that had been previously linked to a product recall over potential health risks by their manufacturer, Philips Respironics.

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After acquiring the devices, Haeger then made alterations to them in attempt to circumvent the parts responsible for the potential health issue that prompted the recall and re-sold them to his patients for a profit.

Prosecutors say that, per the direction of Haeger, employees at the sleep clinics billed the machines to Medicaid under the false pretenses that they were new and in perfect working order.

“This case demonstrates the serious consequences of altering recalled medical devices and misrepresenting them to patients and healthcare programs," said Special Agent Robert Iwanicki of the Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations. “The FDA is committed to protecting patients from adulterated and misbranded medical devices that may compromise health and safety.”

Following an investigation by the FDA, it was later shown during court proceedings that Haeger re-sold at least 440 of the altered used devices under false claims that they were new and personally pocketed nearly $450,000 of the $600,000 their collective sale provided.

Following Haeger's plea and subsequent sentencing, W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's field office in Seattle said, “As a physician, Dr. Haeger knew he had a responsibility to act in the best interest of patients who trusted him with their health. Instead, he risked the safety of hundreds of Medicaid patients by issuing them recalled medical devices he had tampered with, then fraudulently billing Medicaid representing the machines as new. Even worse, these Medicaid patients had limited treatment options, and he took advantage of their vulnerability for his own gain."

In a statement regarding Haeger's plea and eventual sentence, his attorney, Jeff Coopersmith said, “Dr. Haeger’s whole mission was trying to serve underserved communities in rural Washington. He is devastated he will not be able to do that anymore.”

As a result of Haeger's sentence, the four Central Washington Sleep Diagnostic Center locations where he admitted to committing the crimes have announced they will all be permanently closing on April 30.

The clinics are located in Brewster, Moses Lake, Spokane Valley, and Wenatchee.