A physician with practices in Jersey City, N.J., 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, according to the Department of Justice.
Anthony DelPiano, MD, pleaded guilty to one count of accepting bribes. Dr. DelPiano admitted he was paid approximately $2,300 per month by BLS in return for referring patient blood specimens to the lab. His referrals generated at least $1.75 million in lab business for BLS, according to the DOJ.
Including Dr. DelPiano, 32 people — 24 of them physicians — have pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud scheme.
Organizers of the scheme have admitted it involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies, according to the DOJ.
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