Pain physician convicted in $4.5M fentanyl kickback scheme

Becker’s ASC Review

Former CEO and owner of Sarasota (Fla.) Pain Associates Steven Chun, MD, has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for his role in a $4.5 million fentanyl kickback scheme, the Justice Department said Dec. 7.

Dr. Chun, 59, must also forfeit $278,900, the proceeds of his offenses.

Dr. Chun was convicted on five separate counts of receiving kickbacks. He prescribed a large volume of the expensive liquid fentanyl spray Subsys. Daniel Tondre, 52, a sales representative for Insys Therapeutics, the drug’s manufacturer and distributor, paid Dr. Chun $2,400 to $3,000 for bogus speaking events he organized in exchange for prescribing more Subsys. Medicare Part D paid more than $4.5 million for Dr. Chun’s Subsys prescriptions.

Mr. Tondre is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 15.

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