A Quad City doctor who spent time in prison and has had his medical license suspended twice, is defending his new medical practice which he says will help the uninsured and under-insured.
Dr. Monty McClellan opened his new clinic in Moline last week, offering flat-rate office visits of $29 dollars for kids, and $49 for adult patients.
After WQAD-TV ran a story about his new venture, viewers called and e-mailed concerns about his past.
Further review shows that Dr. McClellan was convicted on several counts of federal bank fraud in the late 1980s and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He served far less than that.
Then in the 1990s, Dr. McClellan plead guilty to taking payoffs, in exchange for ordering hundreds of unnecessary tests for patients while employed at a now closed hospital. The scheme bilked Medicare and Medicaid of more than $3 million, according to authorities.
At the time, McClellan admitted he cleared patients for surgery before testing them properly, and said between 1993 and 1994, he admitted about 100 patients a month to Doctors Hospital in Chicago who didn't need to be hospitalized.
In a second interview with WQAD-TV on Wednesday, he said he is not "'a con," but "an ex-con." He says he is trying to turn his life around.
"I was guilty. I did what I could to make it right. Being in prison is a sobering experience. It is very difficult. All I can say is I learned from my mistake," he said. "I received my license back. I'm trying to help people get medical help," he said.
The doctor's license was suspended after the first federal crime from 1990 to 1992, and again, after the second federal fraud, from 2004 to 2007. He regained his license in 2010.