Utah podiatrist and two nurses charged over skin substitutes billed to Medicare
A federal grand jury in St. George, Utah, returned an indictment on May 12, 2026 charging podiatrist Ryan Scott Ellsworth of Highland, nurse practitioner Emily Kelly of Washington, and nurse Drake Dell Broadbent of Santa Clara with health care fraud and wire fraud. The indictment alleges that from July 2021 through December 2025 they billed Medicare for skin substitutes for patients without qualifying wounds. Ellsworth billed $44 million and Medicare paid Summit over $19 million; Kelly billed $17 million and Medicare paid over $10 million. These are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.
- Year
- 2026
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Charged (an allegation, not a conviction)
- Reported loss
- $29.0 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Skin substitute and wound graft fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-19
The facts, as recorded
- Ellsworth, a podiatrist, owned and operated Summit Foot and Ankle, with clinics throughout Utah, and Amble Medical in Highland. Kelly was a licensed nurse practitioner and Broadbent a licensed nurse, working primarily from Summit's St. George clinic.
- The grand jury indictment, returned on May 12, 2026, charges all three with health care fraud and wire fraud. Ellsworth and Broadbent are also charged with false statements relating to health care matters.
- The indictment alleges that from July 2021 through December 2025 the defendants submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for skin substitute services, many medically unnecessary, resulting in Medicare paying $29 million in claims.
- The indictment alleges the defendants knew Medicare billing of a skin substitute was permissible only if it was medically necessary and if basic wound care had been administered to the wound for the previous 30 days.
- The indictment alleges they billed for skin substitutes for patients who did not have qualifying wounds and where continued treatment was medically unnecessary.
- The indictment alleges they routinely did not pursue Medicare copayments from beneficiaries for skin substitutes, which at times would have been thousands of dollars owed by a beneficiary.
- Ellsworth allegedly caused unqualified providers, such as Broadbent, to provide skin substitute services outside his professional scope of practice, and submitted claims for such services under his own name and Medicare provider number.
- Ellsworth billed $44 million in claims to Medicare for skin substitutes, and Medicare paid Summit over $19 million on those claims. Kelly billed $17 million, and Medicare paid Summit over $10 million.
- The case was investigated jointly by IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office and HHS Office of Inspector General, and was announced by First Assistant US Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah.
Why this case matters
It is a smaller, clinic-based version of the pattern in the Arizona case, and the allegations show a different mechanism. There is no distributor kickback in the release. Instead it alleges that a clinic billed for skin substitutes for patients who did not have qualifying wounds, and that the defendants routinely did not pursue the copayments beneficiaries owed, which at times would have been thousands of dollars.
The rule the release says they knew
The release says Medicare billing for a skin substitute is permissible only if it is medically necessary and if basic wound care has been administered to the wound for the previous 30 days. The allegation is that the defendants knew this and billed for patients who did not have qualifying wounds anyway.
The caveat
Everything above is an allegation in a grand jury indictment. Ellsworth, Kelly and Broadbent are presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise. The release gives the date of their first court appearance, June 8, 2026, and this page did not find a later outcome, so it does not say whether one exists. The dollar figures are the amounts the indictment alleges were billed and the amounts the release says Medicare paid on those claims, not a finding that all of it was fraudulent.
Sources
- Utah doctor and two nurses charged with health care fraud after submitting false claims to Medicare and receiving millions in payout. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Accessed 2026-10-19. Supports: Every fact above: the three defendants and their roles, the May 12, 2026 indictment and the charges, the July 2021 to December 2025 period, the 30-day wound care rule, the alleged billing for patients without qualifying wounds, the unpursued copayments, the scope-of-practice allegation, the $44 million and $17 million billed and over $19 million and $10 million paid, and the investigating agencies.