A Louisiana doctor was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to receive approximately $336,000 in illegal healthcare kickback payments. Gray Wesley Barrow, M.D., 61, of Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks on Nov. 20, 2018. According to court documents, Barrow was a co-owner of Louisiana Spine & Sports LLC, a pain management clinic located in Baton Rouge. Barrow agreed to send urine specimens collected from his patients to a drug testing laboratory in return for an unlawful kickback calculated as a percentage of the reimbursements paid to the laboratory by Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs. From approximately January 2014 through July 2016, Barrow sent specimens collected from his patients to the laboratory and received approximately $1.58 million in disbursements from the laboratory. Of that $1.58 million, approximately $336,000 represented kickback payments associated with testing performed on specimens of Medicare beneficiaries, which the court ordered Barrow to forfeit. Additionally, Barrow was ordered to pay $336,000 in restitution.
