A Mission rheumatologist who was convicted of misdiagnosing thousands of patients with rheumatoid arthritis as part of a $240 million healthcare fraud scheme is seeking to have his sentence vacated, federal court records show.

Jorge Zamora-Quezada filed the motion to vacate his sentence on July 1, days after he was released from federal custody after serving a year of his 10-year sentence.

In his motion to have the sentence vacated, Zamora-Quezada claims newly discovered medical evidence proves that prosecutors’ claim that he misdiagnosed several patients was “medically inaccurate.”

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“The government relied on outdated diagnostic criteria and misrepresented modern rheumatology,” the filing states, adding that modern diagnostic criteria proved that patients met the criteria to be diagnosed with rheumatism and other related autoimmune diseases.

The filing also mentioned that the Texas Medical Board had cleared Zamora-Quezada after reviewing his charts and “found no basis for further action.”

Zamora-Quezada’s co-defendants in the trial, including his wife, were either acquitted or had their cases dismissed, the filing said. The actions left Zamora-Quezada “as the sole alleged conspirator — contradicting the government's conspiracy theory.”

Zamora-Quezada is requesting a new trial be ordered if his conviction isn’t vacated. He had been in federal custody since his 2018 arrest on healthcare fraud and international money laundering charges.

According to prosecutors, Zamora-Quezada filed $240 million in fraudulent claims to healthcare programs to administer unnecessary treatments, including medicine commonly used to treat cancer, to at least 10,000 patients he falsely diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and other degenerative diseases at his practices throughout South Texas.

Zamora-Quezada was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, minus seven years for time served, in May 2025. A notice from the Federal Bureau of Prisons shows he was released on June 19.

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Prosecutors have 45 days to file a response to Zamora-Quezada’s motion. As of Friday, a hearing date had not been set.

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