Weiser Sues Durango Doctor Over $374K Expired License Billing

Durango —The fluorescent lights in the waiting room of Colorado Addiction Treatment Services, or CATS, hummed with a low, steady buzz. It was a sound most patients learned to ignore, a background noise to the quiet desperation of addiction. But for the state of Colorado, that hum was getting louder. It was the sound of money slipping through fingers that no longer had the legal right to hold it.

A question lingers in the air, one that every taxpayer in the valley should be asking: How do you keep billing the public for a service when the government has already told you you’re out of business?

The answer, according to a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Phil Weiser in Denver District Court, is simple. You just don’t stop.

Dr. Daniel Caplin, the physician behind CATS, allegedly did exactly that. The state alleges that Caplin continued to bill Colorado Medicaid for opioid addiction treatment services even after his clinic’s controlled substance license had expired. The total amount? More than $374,000.

It’s a staggering figure, but the details are what really sting. This wasn’t a case of bureaucratic confusion or a missed email. The state claims Caplin knew. In June 2022, a representative from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration visited the clinic. They spoke with Caplin by phone. They explained the license had expired. They even supervised the removal of licensure notices from the waiting room. And yet, the claims kept coming.

From June 2022 through November 2023, CATS submitted 703 claims totaling $270,664.81 for administering buprenorphine, a common medication for opioid use disorder. Another 1,001 claims, totaling $103,575.67, were filed for evaluation and management services. That’s nearly two years of continuous billing while the clinic sat on a lapsed license.

Weiser’s office framed the suit under the Colorado Medicaid False Claims Act, a powerful tool that allows the state to seek triple damages plus civil penalties. It’s a message to other providers: if you take public money, you play by public rules.

“Colorado Medicaid provides essential health care to some of our state’s most vulnerable residents and fraud takes limited resources away from the Coloradans who rely on this program,” Weiser said in a statement. “We allege that Dr. Caplin knew his clinic had lost the license needed to provide these services and continued billing Medicaid anyway.”

There’s a certain irony in the location of the suit. It’s being heard in Denver, the political capital, far from the dusty trails and high-desert views of Durango. But the money came from the whole state, so the accountability is statewide, too.

Back in Durango, the clinic still stands. The parking lot is empty now, the doors locked. But the echo of that humming light remains. It’s a reminder that when the license lapses, the obligation doesn’t always follow. And until the courts decide otherwise, the question stays open: Did Dr. Caplin know? The state says yes. The neighbor watching the money drain out of the system hopes he did.