Here are five physician kickback cases Becker's reported on in June:
1. Eleven people were indicted in a $2 billion telemedicine fraud scheme focused on orthotic braces and pain creams. The CEO and vice president of business development of a software and services company are accused of selling templated physician orders for orthotic braces and pain creams in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Several individuals were involved in a telemarketing operation across the U.S. and abroad to target elderly and disabled people with direct advertising to sell medically unnecessary medical equipment and prescriptions
2. David Copeland, part owner and sales manager of a pharmacy in Florida selling compounded prescription drugs, paid physicians who treated Tricare beneficiaries bribes and kickbacks in exchange for prescription referrals. He took them on hunting trips and "expensive dinners" as well, according to the Justice Department
3. Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre, a skilled nursing facility in Riverside, Calif., and its management company, Rockport Healthcare Services, agreed to pay the U.S. and California $3.825 million to resolve physician kickback allegations.
4. Columbia, S.C.-based Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, St. Francis Hospital and St. Francis Physician Services agreed to pay $36.5 million to resolve allegations that it made illegal kickback payments to surgeons tied to the volume or value of referrals.
5. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, Detroit Medical Center and Vanguard Health Systems agreed to pay $29.7 million to the federal government to resolve a whistleblower's allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by providing kickbacks to referring physicians.