11 hours Ago By Gabriel Dillard
Doctor writing prescription, Adobe Stock image Two Fresno physicians have agreed to pay a combined $2.43 million to settle allegations of receiving unlawful kickbacks. In two separate settlements, Fresno podiatrist Dr.
Jagpreet Mukker and Fresno pain medicine specialist Amitabh Goswami are resolving allegations they directed prescriptions to a group of mail-order pharmacies controlled by an individual named Matthew H. Peters, who still faces a lawsuit initiated by U.S.
Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. In the first settlement, Dr.
Mukker and his medical corporation, Jay Mukker, DPM Inc., have agreed to pay more than $1.59 million to the United States to resolve allegations that they participated in the unlawful kickback arrangement causing Dr.
Mukker to issue prescriptions for beneficiaries of federal health care programs (including Medicare, TRICARE, and Medi-Cal), which the United States alleges violated the False Claims Act. As part of the settlement, Dr. Mukker acknowledged, accepted, and agreed not to dispute certain facts surrounding the kickback scheme.
In particular, Dr. Mukker agreed that from 2016 through 2020, he accepted payments in connection with prescriptions he issued to a series of indistinguishable mail-order pharmacies controlled by Peters. Under this arrangement, Dr.
Mukker received financial payouts, described as investment returns, in connection with investments in “management service organizations” created by Peters. Financial payouts from those investments reached multiple times the amount of capital paid into the venture, within just the first few months. After a small initial investment, Dr.
Mukker received up to $117,400 per year in kickbacks, which caused Dr. Mukker to send prescriptions to Peters’ pharmacies. These payouts were described as a “reward[] for scripts” that Dr.
Mukker sent to Peters’ pharmacies. As described in the settlement agreement, Dr. Mukker acknowledged that, as the arrangement continued, he received additional opportunities to invest in Peters’ management service organizations, which resulted in greater financial payouts.
Peters awarded additional investment opportunities based on the number and value of prescriptions that Dr. Mukker had directed to the pharmacies. In connection with one such opportunity, Peters made clear that Dr.
Mukker’s payout would double. Peters then explained that the scheme could offer him more shares as Dr. Mukker’s prescription “performance” increased.
The arrangement included an agreed-upon exchange of payments for prescriptions, with prescriptions being a condition of investment — described by one representative such that if a clinician “doesn’t write, he can’t have shares.” Similarly, when monthly payouts were less than expected, Dr. Mukker requested to be “made whole” and that he and another investor “have held up our end of the bargain” and “prescrib[ed] a lot of the compounding to our patients.
” The first settlement agreement also resolves separate allegations that Dr. Mukker and Jay Mukker, DPM Inc. submitted false claims for peripheral venous studies that they knew were not covered by Medicare, under the guise of covered evaluation and management services.
With respect to these allegations, under the settlement announced, Dr. Mukker also agreed not to dispute that he and his practice submitted claims to Medicare for peripheral venous studies between January 2017 and November 2023 that were not reimbursable, and that Dr. Mukker and his practice billed those services to Medicare using a code for a physician evaluation and management service that was not consistent with what had been furnished to the patient.
In the second settlement announced Thursday, Fresno pain medicine specialist Amitabh Goswami, D.O., and his medical corporation, California Pain Consultants, agreed to pay $835,000 to resolve allegations that they participated in the same unlawful kickback arrangement that the United States alleges violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act.
“The payment of kickbacks corrupts medical decision-making and increases the cost of health care,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert.
“We will hold accountable those who pay or receive such kickbacks, ensuring they do not profit at the expense of American taxpayers and patients.” Craig Castro, who has served nearly 23 of his 40-year Two Fresno physicians have agreed to pay a combined $2.43 Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist, forecasts Trumark Homes officially opened sales at its Copper River community.
