government
13 New Jersey doctors arrested on illegal kickback charges
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 26, 2011
Thirteen New Jersey physicians have been charged with taking illegal kickback payments in exchange for referring patients to a medical testing facility, according to a Dec. 13 release from New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
The physicians, along with a nurse, are accused of taking monthly cash payments to refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to Orange (N.J.) Community MRI. The testing facility allegedly started the kickback scheme as early as 2010. Prosecutors claim that payments were determined by how many patients the doctors referred for tests, including MRIs, CT scans and dual emission x-rays. Between October and December 2011, 32 illegal payments totaling more than $50,000 were made to or by the defendants, the release said.
The doctors were arrested Dec. 13 after a joint investigation by federal and local agents for the Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Attorneys for the physicians and the facility could not be reached for comment.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/12/26/gvbf1226.htm.
