Former Sarasota pain doctor sentenced for health care conspiracy, receiving kickbacks
A former Sarasota pain doctor was sentenced Thursday in federal court for conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks and bribes in exchange for prescribing a medical fentanyl spray, according to a news release.
U.S. District Judge William H. Jung sentenced Dr. Steven Chun, 59, to three years and six months in federal prison and ordered him to forfeit $278,900, which was the amount Chun had received for appearing in sham public speaking events.
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“This corrupt medical professional ignored patient care and instead inflicted financial pain,” FBI Tampa Division special agent in charge David Walker said in the release.
Chun was found guilty, along with Daniel Tondre, 54, on May 24, 2022, for conspiring to get kickbacks in the form of speaker fees in return for prescribing Subsys, a fentanyl spray applied under the tongue which allows it to enter the bloodstream faster.
Tondre, a sales representative for Insys Therapeutics Inc., which produced and sold Subsys, actively marketed the substance to Chun "by holding bogus and sham speaker events, and paid Chun $2,400 to $3,000 per speaker event," the release stated. In exchange, Chun wrote more prescriptions for the drug and in higher dosages.
The events, usually attended by Chun's family, friends and some repeat attendees, were used to disguise the kickbacks and bribes paid to Chun, the release stated, with many of the attendance signatures falsified or forged. In total, prosecutors revealed Chun was paid $278,900 in kickbacks and bribes over the course of almost three years. Tondre reportedly earned more than $737,000 in salary and sales commissions during that time, the release stated.
In addition, Medicare Part D paid more than $4.5 million for Subsys prescriptions which were prescribed by Chun.
Two of Chun's former patients testified about the negative impact Subsys had on their lives during the sentencing, according to the release.
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“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 with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
This is not the first time Chun came under federal scrutiny. In 2014, he agreed to pay $750,000 to resolve a federal whistleblower lawsuit.
Chun was accused of billing Medicare for high-level office visits that didn't happen between 2006 and 2011, according to previous reporting by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Chun, who operated Sarasota Pain Associates, claimed he performed comprehensive examinations of patients with complex medical problems, according to the reporting.
Chun also had to enter a three-year Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services where he had to complete training courses and had an external review of his coding, billing and claims submissions to federal programs.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former Sarasota pain doctor sentenced in federal healthcare fraud case
