Sarasota Pain Doctor Gets Prison Time In $4.5M Fentanyl Scheme: DOJ

SARASOTA, FL — A former Sarasota pain doctor was sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison in a $4.5 million health care fraud kickback scheme, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

In May, Dr. Steven Chun, 59, was found guilty of conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes, in the form of speaker fees, in return for prescribing the fentanyl spray, Subsys. In addition to prison time, Chun was also ordered to forfeit about $279,000, which he made from the crimes, the DOJ said.

Daniel Tondre, 52, of Tampa, a former Insys sales representative, was also found guilty of these charges, as well as two counts of identification fraud in connection with the sham speaker events. He’ll be sentenced Dec. 15.

According to court documents, Chun was a doctor who owned and operated a pain management medical practice in Sarasota where he prescribed a large volume of Subsys, an expensive form of liquid fentanyl designed to be applied under the tongue, allowing it to rapidly enter the bloodstream, the DOJ said.

Tondre was employed as a sales representative in Chun’s territory by Insys Therapeutics, Inc., the company that manufactured and sold Subsys.

Insys, through Tondre, actively marketed Subsys to Chun by holding bogus and sham speaker events and paid the doctor $2,400 to $3,000 per speaker event in return for writing more and higher dosages of Subsys prescriptions, the DOJ said.

The “sham speaker programs” were often only attended by Chun’s family and friends or repeat attendees, and included many falsified or forged signatures of attendees, according to the agency. The programs were designed to disguise the kickbacks and bribes paid to him.

Insys paid Chun more than $278,900 in illegal kickbacks and bribes via the speaker programs over a period of less than three years, evidence shows. Tondre earned more than $737,000 in salary and sales commissions over a period of two-and-a-half years. Medicare Part D paid more than $4.5 million for Subsys prescriptions written by Chun.

During the sentencing hearing, two former patients of Chun testified regarding the “devastating impact” that Subsys had on their lives, the DOJ said.

“Contrary to proper patient care, the defendants repeatedly disregarded opportunities to promote legitimate, suitable pain management for beneficiaries to instead pursue personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar, special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said. “It is a top priority of our agency and law enforcement partners to bring to justice individuals who exploit their proximity to patients to defraud federal health care programs.”