surgblumm Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 BOSTON – A Rhode Island man was sentenced today in federal court for taking kickbacks. Michael Cobb, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to one year incarceration (six months in prison, six months home confinement), to be followed by two years of supervised release and a $3,000 fine. Cobb was also ordered to forfeit $10,000 of proceeds from the offense to the federal government. Cobb pleaded guilty to violating the Anti-Kickback law on April 19, 2012. Between 2004 and 2011, Cobb, a physician’s assistant, took kickbacks from Orthofix Inc., a medical device company, in return for ordering Orthofix’s device. Orthofix manufactures bone growth stimulators, which are externally-worn medical devices that emit electromagnetic waves that help regenerate bone cells. Cobb was a physician’s assistant for a neurosurgeon in Rhode Island who prescribed bone growth stimulators for patients who underwent spinal fusion surgery. The surgeon had no preference as to which company’s bone growth stimulator was used, believing that there were no clinical differences amongst the stimulators on the market. The surgeon left this decision to Cobb, who was in a position to direct the stimulator business to whichever medical device company he chose. Between 2004 and 2011, Orthofix paid Cobb for each bone growth stimulator that was ordered by the surgeon in payments ranging from $50 to $300. Cobb never disclosed to the surgeon that he was taking these payments, and the surgeon would not have authorized the arrangement. Cobb was paid approximately $120,000 between 2004 and 2011 for bone growth stimulator orders. In return, Cobb steered more than a $1 million of reimbursement from insurance carriers to Orthofix, including approximately $350,000 in payments from federal insurance carriers.:-_-: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsfelder0417 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Wow. That is exactly the wrong sort of news for this profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well, good thing it was a physician's assistant and not a physician assistant. Otherwise that would have really looked bad for the profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted July 24, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 24, 2012 glad they found him guilty this type of behavior is totally unacceptable and should be punished - not sure jail time is needed - but certainly loss of PA license and huge fines are in order the who refer for profit stinks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surgblumm Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Good pick up. This happens occasionally in our profession but is a big time problem with the Doc's. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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