New York Doctor Sentenced to Four Years in $100 Million Lab Kickback Scheme
- June 01, 2018 by Pamela Coyle Brecht
- Federal False Claims Act, Healthcare
The beat goes on…
According to a May 31, 2018 filing in New Jersey federal court, Dr. Thomas Savino of Staten Island was sentenced to four years imprisonment and three years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit $27,500 for his part in the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services fraud. Evidence produced at trial last fall showed that Dr. Savino received at least $25,000 from the lab in exchange for his referrals, which generated approximately $375,000 for the lab. In October 2017, Savino was convicted of multiple offenses for his role in the kickback scheme, including conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute and wire fraud. All told, the scheme resulted in $100 million in false claims to government and private health care programs.
With Dr. Savino’s conviction and sentencing, the case has resulted in 53 convictions, including 38 doctors. Earlier this month, four former Biodiagnostic sales employees also received prison sentences ranging from 21 to 41 months, and a fifth ex-employee received three-years’ probation for their part in the kickback scheme.
Back in June of 2016, Biodiagnostic pled guilty and was required to forfeit its assets. In December 2017, the founder of the lab company, a former nurse, testified during the government’s prosecution. He described how he built a $150 million business from scratch using a marketing plan built primarily on bribing doctors to use his lab. The physicians involved were bribed with luxury automobiles, impossible-to-get concert tickets, and trips to the Caribbean and the Super Bowl in private jets, as well as prostitutes and strippers at high-end gentlemen’s clubs. Although 40 physicians were charged, the lab owner testified that he paid off more than 100 physicians to keep referrals flowing to his lab.
The scheme came to light when one of the doctors receiving kickbacks gave an old iphone to a girlfriend. After their breakup, she discovered texts revealing the bribe scheme and provided them to authorities.