Kentucky chiropractor sees empire crumble
Man bankrupt, charged with health-care fraud

By Patrick Howington
The Courier-Journal

Dr. Paul Hollern once headed a chiropractic empire, receiving part of the profits of about 80 practitioners across the country who had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each for his "Uncle Paul Chiropractic Business Training."

But now Hollern is bankrupt and charged with health-care fraud for allegedly teaching young chiropractors to sell patients unnecessary services.

A federal grand jury also charged Hollern in February with videotaping patients at his Louisville-area chiropractic offices without their knowledge, violating patient privacy law.

The videos allegedly were for use in Hollern's sales-training seminars in Louisville. If patients asked about the cameras, students and staff were instructed to say they were for security purposes, according to a complaint pending before the Kentucky Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

Hollern, 44, operated his Uncle Paul training business from 2002 to 2004, according to the indictment. It was based in southern Louisville, while his primary chiropractic office was in Hillview in Bullitt County.

Hollern also is charged with retaliating against a whistle-blowing witness by allegedly falsely telling neighbors the man was involved in child pornography.

Hollern, who was raised in Vine Grove, Ky., and later lived in Louisville, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is scheduled for July 16. He now lives in Naples, Fla.

He said in an interview that he didn't defraud anyone or teach his chiropractor trainees to do so. He said he has videotapes of his training seminars that will prove it.

"I'm literally on that tape as saying, 'Don't commit fraud, don't rip off the insurance companies,' " Hollern said.

He said his lawyer has asked the U.S. attorney's office, which is prosecuting the charges, "who have we defrauded and how much," but hasn't received a response.

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the case.
'Bait and switch' alleged

Hollern's financial and legal troubles were triggered by a complaint filed in July 2004 with the Kentucky Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

A chiropractor named Jeffrey Miller, who was then the company's chief operating officer, filed the complaint, accusing Hollern of using "bait and switch" tactics to land patients -- offering a free exam and X-rays, but then telling the patient the X-rays revealed a potential problem.

That led to more X-rays, for which insurance providers were billed, Miller said.

Hollern said in an interview that he and his trainees never told patients they had a problem unless an X-ray showed one. He said his offices did not even charge Medicare for exams, therapy or additional X-rays.

He said in a court filing that Miller had falsely accused him after a dispute over Miller's abrupt departure from the business.

Miller, formerly of Shelbyville, Ky., and now an assistant professor at a chiropractic college in Florida, did not return calls for comment.

His complaint said Hollern had video cameras installed to record his chiropractor business trainees as they sold patients on services.

Clients halt payments

Miller's complaint became public in a trade magazine, Dynamic Chiropractic. Not long after, dozens of chiropractors trained by Uncle Paul stopped making payments to Hollern, setting off two years of litigation.

In 28 suits filed in Louisville, Hollern said former students owed him nearly $10 million for his training and help in setting them up in practice. Most of the suits are pending in state and federal courts.

The former students claimed he taught them illegal billing practices and they shouldn't pay him for that.

"When they realized that the whole general premise of what they were taught -- especially in the billing area -- involved potential serious issues, they stopped paying," said Marvin Coan, attorney for six of those chiropractors.

In court pleadings in response to Hollern's suits, chiropractors also said Hollern made inflated promises about the income they would earn.

They said he recruited them while they were students at Hollern's alma mater, Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis. The documents said he would walk into classrooms and proclaim: "If you want to be successful in practice and a millionaire by 40, come see me during lunch."

Logan College said Hollern was a guest lecturer but never used the classroom to promote his business. Hollern has said the same, while adding that he would "informally discuss my private businesses during breaks between lectures."

He also advertised in a Logan publication, saying that chiropractors he trained made more than three times the average salary for chiropractors.

Those who signed on agreed to pay Hollern up to $450,000 each for business training and other help. Installment payments would be 40 percent of their office profits until the total was paid.

The agreements gave Hollern tight control of the practices he set up for trainees. They were forbidden, without Hollern's permission, to buy any item costing more than $300, spend money on advertising, hire family members or disclose Hollern's business methods to anyone.

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