The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton, NJ announced on November 22 that primary care physician Yitzchok “Barry” Kurtzer of Monsey, NY, and his wife pleaded guilty to soliciting and receiving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for ordering genetic tests. Kurtzer had offices in the Scranton, PA area that his wife helped manage. Two of his
Fraud and Abuse
NJ man arrested for selling counterfeit supplements on Amazon
A September 29 article in NutraIngredients-USA, “New Jersey Man Arrested for Selling Counterfeit Supplements on Amazon,” discussed the arrest of Brad Snyder of Marlton, NJ, for allegedly counterfeiting Pure Encapsulations and Nature M.D. branded products and selling them online. Rivkin Radler’s Steve Shapiro was quoted in the article.
Steve noted the seriousness…
NY Cardiologist Settles AKS Claims for $6.5 Million
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on September 18 that cardiologist Klaus Peter Rentrop and his practice, Gramercy Cardiac Diagnostic Services, P.C., agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle allegations that they violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. Rentrop admitted to paying physicians millions of dollars in…
Kaiser and Janocinska Author ABA Book on the Federal AKS and Safe Harbors
The American Bar Association has published the second edition of “The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Safe Harbors: A History and Practice Guide.” Written by Geoffrey R. Kaiser and Ada Janocinska, the book is a comprehensive reference for one of the nation’s most commonly cited, investigated and enforced health care fraud and abuse laws.
The book…
OIG Advisory Opinion Warns on IONM Company “Surgeon Deals”
On August 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) published an Advisory Opinion warning that a common arrangement under which surgeons profit from referrals of their patients for intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) services can violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The Advisory Opinion, the first significant public commentary on…
NJ DME Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Kickback Scheme
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey recently announced that Alexander Schleider of Lakewood pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in a durable medical equipment (DME) kickback scheme.
Schleider owned and operated several DME companies that provided orthotic braces to beneficiaries of Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs regardless of…
Kaiser to Present on Drug and Device Enforcement Trends for PLI
On September 14, Rivkin Radler’s Jeff Kaiser will participate on a panel at Practising Law Institute’s Life Sciences 2023: Navigating Legal Challenges in Drug and Device Industries program in New York City.
Held at PLI’s New York Conference Center at 1177 Sixth Avenue, the program will cover the explosive growth of digital health and the…
NY Pharmacy Owner and Manager Indicted for Medicaid Fraud
New York State Attorney General Letitia James recently announced that the owner and manager of Santiago Pharmacy in Flushing, Queens, were indicted for paying kickbacks to Medicaid recipients in exchange for filling their HIV prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Juan Poveda, the owner, and Javier Burbano, the pharmacy manager, were charged with grand larceny, health care…
Bronx Nursing Home Settles AKS/FCA Case
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that Morris Park Nursing Home, a skilled nursing facility in the Bronx, and two individuals agreed to pay a total of $3.46 million to resolve federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act violations. The schemes included paying cash kickbacks to a supervisor at a nearby hospital in exchange…
Former NY Nurse Sentenced for Fake Vax Cards
On June 9, Steven Rodriguez, a former nurse from Long Beach, New York, was sentenced in federal court to 2-1/2 years in prison for selling at least 300 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards. Rodriguez and a co-conspirator from Queens, Jia Liu, had pleaded guilty to the scam. Liu will be sentenced in September.
To cover up…