California doctor pleads guilty to accepting millions in illicit payment for spinal surgeries

- ADVERTISEMENT -

An Indian-American neurosurgeon pleaded guilty Sept. 1, 2022, to a federal criminal charge for accepting approximately $3.3 million in bribes for performing spinal surgeries at a now-defunct Long Beach hospital whose owner later was imprisoned for committing a massive workers’ compensation system scam.

Lokesh Tantuwaya, 55, of San Diego, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and to violate the federal Anti-Kickback statute. He has been in federal custody since May 2021 after he was found to have violated the terms of his pretrial release, the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a December 9 sentencing hearing, at which time Tantuwaya will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

According to his plea agreement and statements at the Sept. 1 change-of-plea hearing, from 2010 to 2013, Tantuwaya accepted money from Michael Drobot, who owned Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, in exchange for Tantuwaya performing spinal surgeries at that hospital. The bribe amount varied depending on the type of spinal surgery.

Pacific Hospital specialized in surgeries, especially spinal and orthopedic procedures. Drobot conspired with doctors, chiropractors and marketers to pay kickbacks and bribes in return for the referral of thousands of patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries and other medical services paid for primarily through the California workers’ compensation system. During its final five years, the scheme resulted in the submission of more than $500 million in medical bills for spine surgeries involving kickbacks.

Tantuwaya entered into contracts with Drobot and Drobot-owned companies. Tantuwaya admitted in his plea agreement that he knew or deliberately was ignorant that the payments were being given to him in exchange for bringing his patient surgeries to Pacific Hospital.

Tantuwaya met with Drobot and Drobot’s employees and further admitted to depositing bribe checks into his bank accounts. He admitted that he knew the receipt of money in exchange for the referral of medical service was illegal and that he owed a fiduciary duty to his patients to not accept money in exchange for taking their surgeries to Pacific Hospital.

In total, Tantuwaya received approximately $3.3 million in illegal payments, the press release said.

In April 2013, law enforcement searched Pacific Hospital, which was sold later that year, bringing the kickback scheme to an end, the press release said, adding that to date, 23 defendants have been convicted for participating in the kickback scheme.