West Hartford Doctor/Avon Resident Sentenced In Kickback Scheme: Feds

WEST HARTFORD/AVON, CT — A West Hartford-based doctor who lived in Avon was sentenced to prison last week in federal court in Boston for his role in a kickback scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts, Dr. Donald Salzberg, 69, of Avon, was sentenced "for receiving kickbacks in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary brain scans. "

Salzberg, an ophthalmologist, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release.

He was also ordered to pay $1.34 million in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.

In July 2022, Salzberg pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to receive kickbacks.

Salzberg, a licensed medical doctor in the State of Connecticut for nearly 40 years, owned and operated Donald J. Salzberg, M.D., an ophthalmology practice in West Hartford.

From 2014 through 2019, authorities said, Salzberg conspired with a principal for a medical diagnostics company that performed transcranial Doppler (TCD) scans – brain scans that measure blood flow in parts of the brain.

The plan, according to federal officials, was to order hundreds of medically unnecessary TCD scans in exchange for kickbacks.

Salzberg and his co-conspirator used false patient diagnoses to order the unnecessary brain scans, for which the co-conspirator would submit claims to Medicare and other insurance companies on behalf of the medical diagnostic company for payment, wrote authorities Monday.

In exchange, Salzberg was paid cash kickbacks of $100 to $125 per test that he ordered, as well as sham administrative services fees, officials said.

The scheme resulted in fraudulent bills of over $3 million to Medicare and private insurance companies, according to federal authorities.

For more information on the sentencing, click on this link.

From July 15, 2022: 'West Hartford Eye Doctor Pleads Guilty To Fraud: Feds'