"Long Island doctor accused of taking bribes" AP August 13, 2015
NEWARK — A Long Island doctor accepted cash bribes and tickets to Justin Bieber and Katy Perry concerts to steer business to a New Jersey blood lab, federal prosecutors said.
Bret Ostrager, 55, of Woodbury, N.Y., accepted monthly bribes of $3,300 from employees and associates of Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services in Parsippany, prosecutors said. They allege he also received thousands of dollars’ worth of meals and tickets to sporting events, concerts, and the Broadway musical ‘‘Newsies.’’
In return, prosecutors claim, Ostrager referred his patients’ blood samples to Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, generating more than $900,000 in business for the company.
He was indicted in Newark on Tuesday on charges of violating antikickback laws and other offenses.
Thirty-eight people, including 26 doctors, have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, prosecutors said. Its organizers have admitted that millions of dollars of bribes resulted in more than $100 million in payments to the blood lab from Medicare and private insurers.
Ostrager faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.
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Then he was sued.
