Missouri man accused of selling used prosthetic legs, claiming they were new

Aug. 18--ST. LOUIS -- Federal prosecutors say a Missouri man and his company sold used prosthetic legs to customers, but told patients and insurance companies that they were new.

Theodore E. Deininger, 53, and First Choice Orthotics & Prosthetics were indicted Aug. 5 on four counts of health care fraud and Deininger also faces one count of lying to a federal agent.

Deininger is due in court Tuesday to plead not guilty to the charges. His lawyer declined to comment Tuesday morning.

Deininger and his company were supposed to fit patients with custom prosthetic legs, the indictment says. Instead, from 2007 to 2014, they bought used legs online or got them from patients or their families when they were no longer needed, then tried to fit them to new patients, the indictment says. Prosecutors say that one of the reasons that patients' families returned legs was when the patient died.

Deininger repeatedly tried to "fix" the legs when patients complained, to conceal the fact that the legs were not new or custom, the indictment claims.

At least once, Deininger and his company bought and then returned a new leg, and used the paperwork to fool a patient into believing they received a new leg, the indictment says.

The four fraud counts in the indictment are related to bills to Medicare and Medicaid of a total of $155,000 for four new prosthetic legs.

The indictment says Deininger lied when he told an FBI agent in April that he had never provided used prosthetic legs to any patient.

First Choice has offices in Kirksville, Hannibal, Trenton and Moberly, Missouri and Bloomfield and Keokuk, Iowa, according to its website.

Robert Patrick -- 314-621-5154

@rxpatrick on Twitter

[email protected]

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