An orthopedic surgeon was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for accepting nearly $623,000 in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for referring his patients to receive spinal surgeries at a corrupt Long Beach hospital. Dr. Jeffrey David Gross, 55, who resides in Dana Point and Las Vegas, was also ordered to forfeit $622,936. The kickback scheme centered on Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, which specialized in surgeries, especially spinal and orthopedic procedures. The owner of Pacific Hospital, Michael D. Drobot, conspired with doctors, chiropractors and marketers to pay kickbacks 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 fraudulent medical bills.
To date, 15 defendants have been convicted for participating in the kickback scheme. From 2008 to 2013, Gross, a licensed neurosurgeon who operated Oasis Medical Providers Inc. in Laguna Niguel, agreed with Drobot to participate in a scheme to defraud patients of their right to honest services by accepting bribes and kickbacks that were paid to induce Gross to refer patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries and other medical services.
