14th Physician Pleads Guilty to Taking Bribes in $100M Fraud Scheme

A pediatrician with two offices in New York has admitted he accepted bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running fraud scheme operated by Parsippany, N.J.-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services.

Surender Gorukanti, MD, has plead guilty to one count of accepting bribes. Dr. Gorukanti admitted he accepted checks of $1,000 per month from Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services for referring patient blood specimens to the company, according to a Department of Justice report.

Including Dr. Gorukanti, 25 people — including 14 physicians — have pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud scheme, according to the report.

Organizers of the scheme have admitted it involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services from Medicare and various private insurance companies, according to the report. 

More Articles on Medicare Fraud:

Physician Faces Medicare Fraud Allegations for Phantom Procedure Billing 
Duke Health Reaches $1M Settlement in Fraudulent Billing Case 
Ex-Sacred Heart CEO Questions Prosecutors' Evidence in Kickback Case