Imprisoning your patients is generally frowned upon in the medical community.

But I guess maybe nobody told this guy:

[Dr. Brian Hyatt is] now under investigation by [Arkansas] state and federal authorities who are probing allegations ranging from Medicaid fraud to false imprisonment. ...

[At least 26] former patients have sued Hyatt, alleging that they were held against their will in his unit for days and sometimes weeks. And Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office has accused Hyatt of running an insurance scam, claiming to treat patients he rarely saw and then billing Medicaid at "the highest severity code on every patient," according to a search warrant affidavit.

Northwest Medical Center in Springdale fired Hyatt last year; he has also been the subject of a Drug Enforcement Agency search. He has denied the allegations made against him.

It's worth noting that, though 26 former patients are suing the doctor, the true number of people allegedly held improperly could run nearly 10 times as high: Northwest Medical Center allegedly "could not provide sufficient documentation that justified the hospitalization of 246 patients who were held in Hyatt's unit," according to an investigation by the state attorney general.

Hyatt was allegedly "getting paid $1,367 per day" in part through Medicare and Medicaid claims; his filings indicated he was meeting face-to-face with patients during these visits. From January 2019 to June 2022, Medicaid "paid out more than $800,000 to Hyatt's facility."

Hyatt has been accused of billing Medicaid at "the highest severity code on every patient," which would guarantee maximum payout for each visit.

A former staffer, on the other hand, last year claimed the doctor was only on the floor "a few minutes" of each day, with no contact with patients.