Dr Margaret Faux says she is scared to leave her house after a backlash to her dramatic allegation that taxpayers are losing $8 billion a year due to doctors misusing Medicare. 

The ABC and Nine Newspapers aired a series of claims this week by Dr Faux, whose doctorate comes from her PhD on Medicare billing, that 30% of MBS rebates were being wasted on erroneous or outright fraudulent billing. 

“Billions of dollars are being rorted from Medicare each year, including by billing dead people and falsifying patient records to boost profits,” the newspapers said. 

The claim was angrily rebutted by doctors and others, with former PSR director Professor Julie Quinlivan and former Department of Health secretary Dr Stephen Duckett (PhD) both saying the figure of $8 billion was not backed by evidence.