Doctor Ordering 'Unnecessary Brain Scans' Received Kickbacks: Officials

A doctor from Connecticut pleaded guilty to ordering hundreds of "unnecessary brain scans" in order to receive kickbacks in federal court on July 14.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts, the doctor, Donald Salzberg, 67, appeared before U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock and plead guilty to "one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to receive kickbacks."

The guilty plea comes several months after Salzberg was first accused of health care fraud over a period of five years from 2014-2019.

Salzberg was a licensed medical doctor in Connecticut and he ran an ophthalmology practice in West Hartford, Connecticut, the Massachusetts District Attorney's Office said.

According to the district attorney, Salzberg worked with a "principal for a medical diagnostics company," from 2014 to 2019. The medical diagnostic company, which was not named, conducted transcranial doppler (TCD) scans, which are used to measure blood flow in different parts of the brain.

Salzberg was accused of ordering "hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks," from the diagnostic company, the press release said.

"Salzberg and his co-conspirator used false patient diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which the co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment," the Massachusetts District Attorney's Office said.

For each unnecessary brain scan Salzberg ordered, he would receive cash kickbacks of $100 to $125.

"The scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of over $3 million to Medicare and private insurance companies," the press release said.

The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years in prison, as well as a potential fine of up to $250,000. Additionally, the second charge of "conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute," carries up to five years in prison and a possible fine of $250,000.

A sentencing hearing for Salzberg has not been scheduled.

"Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. sentencing guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case," the press release said.

Newsweek reached out to the Massachusetts District Attorney's Office for further comment.

A somewhat similar incident occurred in February when a doctor licensed in Oklahoma and Texas plead guilty to accepting kickback payments for "writing and referring compounded drug prescriptions," the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Oklahoma said at the time.