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 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.