PULASKI COUNTY, Arkansas — Brian Hyatt, the Rogers doctor accused of Medicaid fraud and named in over 100 lawsuits, will not get his day in court until 2025 after his trial was delayed.
According to court documents, Hyatt was set to go in front of a jury in Pulaski County on Sept. 17, 2024. However, on Aug. 28, a judge granted a motion to continue the trial, and it now won't be until April 9, 2025.
Court documents filed by Hyatt's defense requested the delay, claiming that his legal counsel needed more time due to unrelated jury trials they were involved with.
The Rogers psychiatrist and former member of the Arkansas State Medical Board was arrested on two counts of large-scale Medicaid fraud during his time as the director of Northwest Medical's Behavioral Health in Springdale.
On Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, the arrest warrant for Dr. Brian Hyatt was formally issued — over eight months after the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General sent a letter to Hyatt citing credible allegations of Medicaid fraud and suspending his Medicaid services.
An investigator with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) said that a confidential informant reported Hyatt during his time at the behavioral unit in Springdale. The confidential informant said there was "significant growth in the unit and likewise in the claims and billings submitted to Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance" since Hyatt started as the unit's director.
The CI said Hyatt was only ever on their floor for a few minutes each day, and that Hyatt had no contact with patients.
There were also reports of Hyatt directing staff to mark out his name on the wristbands of patients. "The CI said Dr. Hyatt did not want the patients to know his name," the MFCU's investigator said.
Hyatt ultimately pleaded not guilty to the two charges of Medicaid fraud.
On top of the criminal charges, over 140 clients represented by Odom Law Firm allege Dr. Brian Hyatt unlawfully coerced, abused, and held patients against their will within the Behavioral Unit to receive more money from Medicare between 2018 and 2022.
A full rundown of the accusations levied against Hyatt, criminal and civil, can be found here.
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