Post by Logan on Mar 13, 2016 0:56:07 GMT -6
Doctor given prison for taking kickbacks to prescribe risky drug
A Chicago doctor who was once the nation's most prolific prescriber of the risky antipsychotic drug clozapine was sentenced to nine months in prison Friday for taking cash, vacation trips and other kickbacks from the drug's manufacturers.
Dr. Michael Reinstein, the subject of a 2009 Tribune-ProPublica joint investigation, admitted to pocketing nearly $600,000 in benefits over the years for prescribing various forms of clozapine, known as a risky drug of last resort, to hundreds of mentally ill patients in his care.
In rejecting calls by defense lawyers for probation, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman noted that like so many other doctors convicted of fraud schemes, Reinstein served a largely underprivileged group of people who are unable to fend for themselves.
The judge also said that regardless of whether he thought the drug was helping his patients, Reinstein violated the sacred doctor-patient trust by accepting the cash.
Read more: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-medicare-fraud-kickbacks-sentencing-met-20160311-story.html
A Chicago doctor who was once the nation's most prolific prescriber of the risky antipsychotic drug clozapine was sentenced to nine months in prison Friday for taking cash, vacation trips and other kickbacks from the drug's manufacturers.
Dr. Michael Reinstein, the subject of a 2009 Tribune-ProPublica joint investigation, admitted to pocketing nearly $600,000 in benefits over the years for prescribing various forms of clozapine, known as a risky drug of last resort, to hundreds of mentally ill patients in his care.
In rejecting calls by defense lawyers for probation, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman noted that like so many other doctors convicted of fraud schemes, Reinstein served a largely underprivileged group of people who are unable to fend for themselves.
The judge also said that regardless of whether he thought the drug was helping his patients, Reinstein violated the sacred doctor-patient trust by accepting the cash.
Read more: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-medicare-fraud-kickbacks-sentencing-met-20160311-story.html