Washington (Daily Pakistan Online) An Indian-American neurosurgeon has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for accepting nearly $3.3 million in bribes to perform spinal surgery. An Indian-American doctor who accepted illegal payments of $3.3 million to perform spine surgery at a fake hospital has been sentenced to five years in prison, according to the US Department of Justice. Dr. Lokesh S. Tantawaya, a 55-year-old neurosurgeon from San Diego, California, operated on patients at a defunct hospital in Long Beach.
According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, Dr. Tantuaya pleaded guilty on September 1 to conspiracy to receive illegal payments, and has been in federal custody since May 2021. Accepted money from Durbot, who owned Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, in exchange for Dr. Tantuaya performing spinal surgery at that hospital. The bribe amount varied depending on the type of spinal surgery.’
Pacific Hospital owner Michael Durbot, who was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2018, conspired with doctors, chiropractors and marketers to pay kickbacks and bribes in exchange for sending thousands of patients to Pacific Hospital for spine surgery. . Surgeries and other medical services are paid for primarily through the California workers’ compensation system. During its last five years, the scheme resulted in more than $500 million in medical bills for spine surgeries involving kickbacks.
