College Athlete Heart Tests Scandal: Doctor Approved 63 Scans in 11 Seconds Before Student Died

A Texas cardiologist allegedly approved 63 cardiac scans of one student athlete in roughly 11 seconds, weeks before that teenager collapsed and died of sudden cardiac arrest during basketball practice.

Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Dr Jason Finkelstein, 53, of Fort Worth, accusing him of running an $89 million (£68 million) health care fraud scheme that targeted hundreds of thousands of US college athletes with rushed, rubber-stamped heart screenings. Finkelstein pleaded not guilty at a brief court appearance in Florida and faces charges of conspiracy and health care fraud.

The case was announced on 23 June 2026 as part of the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, in which the Justice Department charged 455 defendants in connection with more than $6.5 billion (£5 billion) in alleged false claims.

How the Alleged Scheme Operated

Finkelstein served as the medical director of a cardiovascular testing company that sent technicians to college campuses across the country, according to the indictment. His two firms, Cardiovascular Testing Services PA and Cardiovascular Healthcare Associates PA, submitted about $89 million in claims to private and public insurers, of which roughly $13.1 million (£10 million) was actually paid.

As the only referring provider on those claims, the board-certified cardiologist never personally examined the athletes, prosecutors say. Sonographers performing the scans lacked the required credentials, and because Finkelstein held licences in all 48 contiguous states, his companies billed insurers for student-athletes nationwide.

The 11-Second Signature Before a Teenager's Death

In October 2024, Finkelstein signed off on roughly 63 cardiac image results of a single teenage athlete in approximately 11 seconds, the federal indictment alleges. Some of those scans flagged potential cardiovascular abnormalities, including a significantly enlarged heart.

About 24 days later, the student collapsed during basketball practice and died of sudden cardiac arrest. Prosecutors say Finkelstein did not change his approval practices after being informed of the death, and his companies kept billing insurers for tests reviewed the same way.

In one exchange cited in the indictment, Finkelstein told a co-conspirator, 'These kids could be high risk... one of them drops dead on a field, they're coming after both of us.'

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon by training, said the alleged misses could not be explained as an error. 'There is no way they could miss that, except they didn't care,' he said. Oz has pressed CMS to deploy real-time data analytics to flag suspicious billing patterns before payments clear.

Kickbacks and 'Free' Campus Screenings

The indictment paints the scheme as more than billing fraud. Finkelstein's co-conspirators allegedly emailed athletic trainers at colleges and universities promising their tests could identify life-threatening conditions, then offered kickbacks and other inducements to school officials willing to refer patients.

Roughly 500,000 college athletes compete in the US each year, and 'free' campus heart screenings have become a familiar fixture at orientations and pre-season physicals. Sudden cardiac death remains the most common non-traumatic cause of death among US college athletes, with male Division I basketball players facing odds as steep as 1 in 2,000 over a four-year career, according to American Heart Association research.

The Hidden Cost to American Premium Payers

Sham diagnoses do not stop at the patient's door. Prosecutors argue the costs ripple back through Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance premiums paid by every American household.

CMS has suspended 1,079 providers and revoked billing privileges for 1,403 others as part of the wider takedown, which charged 90 medical professionals across 45 states. Investigators also seized more than $182 million (£138 million) in cash, vehicles, and other assets. Finkelstein has not yet detailed a defence.