December 22, 2015
A physician’s assistant was sentenced to prison, and a doctor admitted taking bribes in connection with a long-running test referral scheme operated by New Jersey-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC, its president and numerous associates. Leonard Marchetta was sentenced to 42 months in prison and Bret Ostrager pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Federal Travel Act by accepting bribes. They are two of the 39 people – 26 of them doctors – who have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, which have involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies. It is believed to be the largest number of medical professionals ever prosecuted in a bribery case. The investigation has to date recovered more than $12 million through forfeiture. DOJ (DNJ)
Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, Healthcare Fraud, Laboratory and IDTF,