Healthcare ‘Trial of the Century’ Ends in Guilty Verdict against Esformes
Case: After a seven-week trial, a federal court convicted Florida healthcare executive Philip Esformes of 20 charges in carrying out a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme, the biggest in history. In addition to paying doctors to refer patients to his elaborate nursing homes, labs and home health agency network from 2009 to 2016, Esformes paid a regulatory official thousands of dollars to sound the warning when government inspectors were planning to inspect the facilities. Significance: Although not strictly about labs, the Esformes case has been called the healthcare trial of the century due to the sheer size of the scheme. And it’s not over. Esformes’ attorneys say they plan to appeal the verdict.
Case: After a seven-week trial, a federal court convicted Florida healthcare executive Philip Esformes of 20 charges in carrying out a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme, the biggest in history. In addition to paying doctors to refer patients to his elaborate nursing homes, labs and home health agency network from 2009 to 2016, Esformes paid a regulatory official thousands of dollars to sound the warning when government inspectors were planning to inspect the facilities.
Significance: Although not strictly about labs, the Esformes case has been called the healthcare trial of the century due to the sheer size of the scheme. And it’s not over. Esformes’ attorneys say they plan to appeal the verdict.
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