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By KERRY CRAIG
News-Telegram Staff Writer
    Defense attorney Heath Hyde said the indictments returned last week against Dr. Don Oneal and his wife Mary Ann Oneal are nothing new.
    “It's the same case,” Hyde said Monday morning. “They just re-worded some words in the indictment after the AG was looking at it instead of how Martin [Braddy] had it worded. They are based on the same facts of the two [indictments] that were already in place, so it's not anything different than what it was.”
    Both Dr. Oneal and his wife, Mary Ann, were originally indicted on allegations of Medicaid fraud and theft in December of 2011 as the result of investigations by the Texas Attorney General's office and Hopkins County District Attorney's office.
    The new indictments allege that Don Oneal appropriated more than $20,000 and less than $100,000 from the Health and Human Services Commission by deception through billing the Texas Medicaid Program for services performed by Micah Oneal or Mary Ann Oneal and billing those services as if they were performed by himself.
    Indictments against Mary Ann Oneal also allege the appropriation of more than $20,000 and less than $100,000 through misrepresentation of a material fact, “that when Don Oneal provided medical and other health care services to Medicaid patients, when said services were provided by Mary Ann Oneal.
    Both were free on $5,000 bond on the indictments and were awaiting trial at the time of the re-indictments.
    Hyde said both were still free on those bonds.
    “We just transferred the bonds from the other case to this one,” the defense attorney said. “It was the same facts and everything else, they just wanted to add and change some words up.”
    The new indictments against the long-time Sulphur Springs physician are the latest in a series of cases beginning in three years ago that included more than 50 separate indictments for misapplication of fiduciary funds, theft, delivery of controlled substances and forgery.
    In exchange for a plea of guilty to charges of misapplication of fiduciary funds last June, the remaining were dropped and Oneal was ordered to pay more than $800,000 in restitution.
    Oneal's attorney said no date has been set for trial on the latest indictments.

Comments (3)

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written by a guest , March 25, 2013

Since I dont know the specifics of any of if, I wont condemn the man for anything & thank you to the person ahead of me who enlightened us to the good things Dr, O'Neal has done...so sad that you never hear the good things someone does. What I dont understand is how did the rest of that Med-Surg Clinic come out unscathed in an investigation? I cant believe he was the only bad apple! I wish they could be indicted for inefficiency! I always hated trying to deal with them with insurance claims...my kids had dual coverage and they would mess it up everytime, filing on the wrong one first or failing to file on the 2nd at all. A coyuple of years ago when paying off a bill after cancer I had money problems before being approved for disability and missed a couple of payments...I had notified them, and when I was able to resume payments, they sent my check back to me and had turnedf my account over to a collection agency who must be a relative of some of them because they ended up with an emergency contact phone number from my medical files and used it to make a collections call! I get sick of seeing someone absolutely crucified in this town and county when the ones throwing stones or standing to the side smiling are no less guilty than the one being pelted...they just got lucky and didnt get caught! Leave Dr. O'Neal and his family alone already! I wish the doctor that killed my mother giving her a short term medication for over 10 years was indicted! there were lawsuits all over the world on this drug during the time he continued to renew her prescription year after year. You'd thought he or Medicene Chest would have clicked every time they saw the name REGLAN! I think contributing to the death of someone is a lot worse than a few thousand dollars in one's pocket...but, oh wait, there probably wouldnt be very many doctors left here would there?

Facts are Facts
written by a guest , March 25, 2013

Say what you may but remember he did plea guilty to fraud in a plea bargin to make the other 50+ felony indictments go away. No doubt he may be a good doctor but the family got greedy.

Dr O'Neal & Mary Ann,
written by a guest , March 18, 2013

Leave these two good honest people alone.
Name me one Dr. that does not try to do the right thing in getting paid from these government programs.

We know the trouble regular people have in working our day to day business with the government.... Imagine the night mare Dr's must go through.

Over the the past 2 1/2 years Dr O'neal kept his office open treating anyone that needed help.

He never charged for anything. His ability to run peoples insurance was taken away from him, but he did what he could to give his services to the needy, paying for office space and supply's out of his own pocket with no income coming back to him.

Mary Ann at his side working all of the office details.

People that write in after me with their BS about what a bad man he is just don't have all of the facts.

God bless,









"American's Take Back America"







I will not press 1 for ENGLISH

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