California radiologist charged in $25 million bribery scheme
Radiologist Ronald Grusd, MD, and seven other medical professionals from California have been charged for taking part in a bribery scheme involving $25 million in improper workers’ compensation claims. Six corporations, including California Imaging Network in Beverly Hills, were also charged.
Grusd allegedly paid a chiropractor based out of San Diego in exchange for patient referrals.
“Today’s indictments are only the first wave of charges in what we believe is rampant corruption on the part of some physicians and chiropractors in their dealings with the health care system in general, and California’s Workers’ Compensation System in particular,” U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement. “A patient puts his trust, and his very life, into the hands of his physician. A doctor’s decisions should never, under any circumstances, be influenced by anything other than the patient’s best interest.”
“This criminal network bought and sold patients like cattle,” Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego County district attorney, said in the same statement.
More information is available on the Department of Justice’s website.