KEY LARGO, Fla. – A prominent doctor from Miami was arrested Monday in connection with an elder abuse case in Key Largo.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said the case has been under investigation since November by the sheriff's Major Crimes Unit and other state and federal agencies.
Raul Arcadio Tamayo, 66, of Miami Beach, was arrested Monday morning at his home on Collins Avenue on two counts of neglect of an elderly or disabled adult.
His bond was set at $200,000.
Herrin said a caregiver who worked under Tamayo's supervision, Amarylis Maristan, 47, is wanted on the same charges.
According to authorities, the duo operated two unlicensed elder living facilities in Monroe County, one from April 2016 until October 2016 at 173 Ocean Drive in Plantation Key and one from October 2016 until December 2016 at 8 Avenue B in Key Largo.
Herrin said Tamayo is accused of failing to provide care for the patients at the facilities and for falsifying records to indicate that he was providing care.
Authorities said the doctor knew the facilities were unlicensed and knew that the woman who supervised the facilities was not medically trained in any way.
Tamayo was also paid by Medicare for services he was not providing, authorities said. Herrin said the investigation into Medicare fraud is continuing.
Maristan is also accused of knowingly operating an unlicensed facility and not providing appropriate and necessary medical treatment to the patients under her care.
Herrin said Tamayo and Maristan were caring for six women in the Keys who were older than 80.
She said all the patients had chronic and acute medical conditions that required medical care and multiple prescription medications.
All the patients were confined to beds or wheelchairs, were diagnosed with memory loss or dementia and were incontinent, Herrin said.
Herrin said detectives discovered that the majority of the women had urinary tract infections and bedsores when they were seen by medical professionals during the investigation.
Neighbors told Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg that they were unaware that Maristan was operating the mobile home as an elder living facility and believed that the women staying there were her relatives.
Herrin said the investigation began after a sheriff's detective and an investigator from the Florida Department of Children and Families responded Nov. 30, 2016, to a report of possible elder abuse.
Herrin said DCF received a complaint from Mariners Hospital in Tavernier after an 85-year-old woman was taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest.
She was covered in urine with severe bedsores, some of them infected, Herrin said.
Herrin said the patient was transferred to Homestead Hospital, where she died the next day.
An autopsy showed that she died of "complications of septic shock due to pneumonia," Herrin said.
Medical records show that at the time of the woman's death, she was underweight, suffered from malnutrition and had been suffering from seizures.
Detectives said Tamayo was aware of her history of seizures and had billed the government for seizure medication that was never given to the victim.
Maristan, who was the woman's caregiver, was interviewed by detectives at the Key Largo facility, where Maristan also lived. Herrin said she told them that Tamayo made house calls to the home, where he had seen the patient and prescribed medication as needed to all the elderly people who lived there.
Authorities said they found four remaining women in the home and numerous mattresses against the walls.
The remaining patients were taken to Mariners Hospital to be evaluated and then were taken to a licensed care facility.
Authorities said the victim who died had not been treated for bedsores or for pneumonia, from which she ultimately died.
Detectives said Tamayo falsified medical records that claimed that he had seen the victim in person.
According to investigators, Tamayo also failed to treat a second woman at the facility for pneumonia and Parkinson's disease.
Detectives said Tamayo admitted that he was responsible for medical supervision at the two facilities and knowing that Maristan was unlicensed and untrained.
Detectives are still searching for Maristan.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the Monroe County Sheriff's Office at 305-853-3211. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-346-TIPS.