The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - Introducing . . . Doctor Billions
Episode Date: September 24, 2026After Derika Moses injured her back at work, she got her spine fused. But after surgery, her pain only got worse. She didn’t know why — until she got a letter in the mail telling her th...at some of the spinal hardware in her back might be counterfeit. Not sterile. Not FDA approved. Made in a machine shop in Temecula, California. Doctor Billions tells the story of the billion-dollar healthcare fraud that turned thousands of patients into unwitting cogs in a scheme involving dozens of doctors, lawyers and healthcare professionals across the country. At the center of one of the nation's largest healthcare frauds was an elusive man named Michael Drobot. His ambition to turn a Long Beach hospital into a destination for back surgeons was at the expense of thousands of patients blind to what was happening behind the scenes. One whistleblower told me: “I'm looking at the surgery board for tomorrow going, 'These people are f***ed.'” Doctor Billions is hosted by Peabody Award-winning journalist Ben Adair for Sony Music Entertainment’s The Binge. Want the full story? Binge every episode of Doctor Billions ad-free October 1st by subscribing to The Binge+. You’ll unlock over 60 true crime series instantly and get binge access to drops on the first of every month. Search for the channel on Apple Podcasts or head to GetTheBinge.com. For behind-the-scenes details, join our free newsletter at Patreon.com/TheBinge. Doctor Billions is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and Western Sound. Follow @sonypodcasts and discover more at sonymusic.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices The Binge — feed your true crime obsession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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When you put your body in the hands of a surgeon, you assume your doctor will do you no harm.
I'm looking at the surgery board for tomorrow going, these people are fucked.
You assume your doctor is in this for something more than just money.
The patients were never a priority.
They were a chess piece in this whole game.
But when greed replaces care, something absolutely.
insane happens.
One doctor says, yeah, I did a lumbar fusion.
My kickback was 25,000.
And the other doctor's going, well, I only got 12,000 because I did a neck.
This is a story about a massive web of fraud and deception.
It involved dozens of doctors, lawyers, and medical professionals all over Southern California.
A fraud worth over $1 billion.
Patients were committing suicide.
losing their homes, losing their marriages, proven that they had counterfeit screws in their body.
That was fact.
I would catch him at night, crying.
This is a big, buff guy, and it just broke my heart.
It would take blackmail, subterfuge, spy work, and years to uncover the extent of the crimes.
I got five or six female FBI agents to play medical marketers,
wire them up for recording devices,
and just sat back and let these doctors and attorneys
talk about how much money they made doing all these bad things.
From Sony Music Entertainment and Western Sound,
this is Dr. Billions.
Los Angeles is the training ground for all fraud in the United States.
I'm Benadair.
Dr. Billions is coming October 1st to The Binge.
Search for Dr. Billions wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes all at once, ad free.
I'm disgusted that I ever even shook these people's hands.