A New York physician was convicted of multiple charges in a kickback scheme that subjected Medicaid patients to unnecessary radiological tests.
Payam Toobian, MD, who had a diagnostic radiology center in New York City, was found guilty of running a kickback scheme from January 2006 to August 2017 in which he gave gift cards and cash to two physicians in exchange for patient referrals, according to a Nov. 22 news release from New York Attorney General Letitia James office.
Dr. Toobian defrauded Medicaid and subjected patients to medically unnecessary and often invasive radiological tests "without the direction, consent, or approval of the referring physicians responsible for the underlying care of those patients," according to the release.
From January 2014 to August 2017, Dr. Toobian also directed his employees to add additional, unordered radiological procedures to orders submitted by referring physicians to increase the amount of money received from Medicaid, according to the release.