A Pennsylvania physician and his wife were charged for allegedly receiving kickbacks for ordering genetic tests and billing Medicare.
Yitzchok "Barry" Kurtzer, MD, and his wife, Robin Kurtzer, were indicted on 11 counts ranging from healthcare fraud to kickback conspiracy, according to a July 23 U.S. Attorney's Office release. Two of Dr. Yitzchok's employees have previously pleaded guilty to the scheme.
According to the indictment, the couple collected genetic samples from Medicare patients and sent them to clinical laboratories in exchange for kickbacks of up to $5,000. The employees collected DNA swabs for these tests, for which they received payment.
The tests were not conducted by necessity, but stopped when Dr. Yitchok did not receive a payment and resumed when payments were made again, the indictment said. Medicare was billed over $1.3 million for the tests.