A Miami doctor was arrested at his Miami Beach home Monday morning and charged with elder abuse involving two unlicensed assisted-living facilities in the Upper Keys.
The doctor, Raul Arcadio Tamayo, 66, is charged with two counts of neglect of an elderly or disabled adult. Bond was set at $200,000. The caregiver who worked under his supervision, Amarylis Maristan, 47, is wanted on the same charges.
Police said they operated two unlicensed elderly living facilities in Monroe County; one at 173 Ocean Dr. on Plantation Key from April until October 2016 and one at 8 Avenue B in Key Largo from October until December 2016.
The 85-year-old woman had been transferred from Mariners to Homestead Hospital, where she died the following day. Autopsy results showed she died of complications of septic shock due to pneumonia.
Investigations revealed she was underweight, suffered from malnutrition and had been suffering from seizures. Tamayo was reportedly aware of this history of seizures and had billed the government for seizure medication that was never given to the woman, Herrin said.
Tamayo is accused of failing to provide care for the elderly patients at the Keys facilities and falsifying records to indicate he was providing care. He also is accused of knowing the facilities were unlicensed and knowing Maristan, who supervised the facilities, was not medically trained.
The two suspects cared for six female patients over age 80, all with chronic and acute medical conditions requiring medical care and multiple prescription medications. All were in bed or wheelchairs, diagnosed with memory loss or dementia and were incontinent. The majority had urinary tract infections and bed sores when they were seen by medical professionals subsequent to being found in the unlicensed facilities.
Investigators say Tomayo was being paid by Medicare for services he was not providing. The investigation is continuing into possible Medicare fraud.
Other agencies investigating include the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Florida Department of Health’s Medical Quality Assurance Unit, the Miami-Dade Police Department Medical Crimes Unit, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.
