An internal medicine physician in Houston was convicted of accepting more than $200,000 in kickbacks for sending patient samples to particular labs.
Hector Ubaldo, MD, was indicted in September for accepted cash from purported marketers in return for sending patients’ blood and urine samples to particular labs, including R.K. Clinical, according to a Nov. 8 news release from the Justice Department.
Dr. Ubaldo also entered sham medical agreements with the labs where he provided "advisory services," that were never provided, in exchange for a monthly fee. Instead, these services were used to funnel kickbacks for the lab referrals.
Dr. Ubaldo accepted more than $253,000 in bribes over the course of the scheme. The lab was able to bill payers around $3.4 million as result of the scheme.