Doctor gets nearly 4 years in prison for kickback scheme

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - A northwestern Indiana doctor has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for her role in a kickback scheme involving Medicare and Medicaid patient referrals.

Federal prosecutors said Friday that 60-year-old Linda Rosenberg was sentenced to 46 months. The Chicago woman pleaded guilty in April to three criminal counts related to her Hammond practice.

The (Munster) Times reports (http://bit.ly/1B2NQbp ) Rosenberg was accused of accepting about $1,500 a month from a Chicago-area laboratory for sending Medicaid and Medicare patients there for blood draws.

Her indictment alleges she had a similar referral arrangement with a northwestern Indiana business that provides body scans and X-rays, and allegedly accepted $34,000 between June 2011 and February 2012.

Rosenberg also illegally dispensed the prescription painkiller hydrocodone to a patient without a legitimate medical purpose.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com