Joseph Rugg's Health Law Blog

USDOJ: US Attorney’s Office – District of New Jersey:  New Jersey doctor practicing in Newark admitted today he took kickbacks in connection with a cash-for-patients scheme with a diagnostic facility in Orange, N.J., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced on July 11.

Dr. William Lagrada, 52, of Edison, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an Information charging him with one count of violating the federal healthcare program anti-kickback statute. Lagrada will forfeit $69,880 he received in kickbacks during the years 2010 and 2011.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On Dec. 13, 2011, Lagrada was arrested and charged with accepting cash kickback payments from Orange Community MRI (“Orange MRI”), a diagnostic facility, in exchange for patient referrals. Also on Dec. 13, 2011, 12 other New Jersey doctors and a nurse practitioner were arrested and charged in separate complaints with accepting similar cash kickback payments from Orange MRI. As revealed in the Complaints, each of the defendants was recorded taking envelopes of cash in exchange for their patient referrals. On Dec. 8, 2011, an Orange MRI executive was arrested and charged in a separate Complaint in connection with his participation in the scheme.

Starting in at least 2010, Orange MRI began making monthly cash kickback payments in exchange for patient referrals to Orange MRI for diagnostic tests. At the end of each calendar month, individuals at Orange MRI printed Orange MRI patient reports that detailed how many magnetic resonance imagings, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, computed axial tomographies, and dual-emission X-ray absorptiometries were referred. These patient reports were used to calculate the kickback payments.

See more at www.justice.gov

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