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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors sought a maximum situation condemnation of astir 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a institution recovered to person fixed hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, galore reliant connected opioids. It would person been among the longest sentences for a wellness attraction enforcement convicted of fraud successful caller years.
Instead, helium got 18 months.
Michael Kestner, 73, who was convicted of 13 fraud felonies past year, faced astatine slightest a decennary down bars based connected national sentencing guidelines. He was granted the substantially lightened condemnation owed to his property and wellness Wednesday during a national tribunal proceeding successful Nashville.
Pain MD CEO Michael Kestner leaves a national courthouse successful Nashville, Tennessee, followed by 1 of his lawyers, aft being sentenced to 18 months successful national situation connected May 14.
Brett Kelman/KFF Health News
U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger described Kestner arsenic a "ruthless businessman" who funded a "lavish lifestyle" by turning aesculapian professionals into "puppets" who pressured patients into injections that did not assistance their symptom and sometimes made it worse.
"In the court's eyes, helium knew it was wrong, and helium didn't truly attraction if it was doing anyone immoderate good," Trauger said.
But Trauger besides said she was swayed by defence arguments that Kestner would conflict successful national situation owed to his property and aesculapian conditions, including the humor upset hemochromatosis. Trauger said she had concerns astir situation wellness attraction aft considering astir 200 requests for compassionate merchandise successful different tribunal cases.
"The aesculapian attraction astatine these facilities," defence lawyer Peter Strianse said, "has ever been dodgy and suspect."
Kestner did not talk astatine the tribunal hearing, different than to item his aesculapian conditions. He did not respond to questions arsenic helium near the courthouse.
Pain MD ran arsenic galore arsenic 20 clinics successful Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina passim overmuch of the 2010s. While galore doctors were scaling backmost their usage of medicine painkillers owed to the opioid crisis, Pain MD paired opioids with monthly injections into patients' backs, claiming the shots could easiness symptom and perchance lessen reliance connected pills, according to national tribunal documents.
During Kestner's October trial, the Department of Justice proved that the injections were portion of a decadelong strategy that defrauded Medicare and different security programs of millions of dollars by capitalizing connected patients' dependence connected opioids.
The DOJ successfully argued astatine proceedings that Pain MD's "unnecessary and costly injections" were mostly ineffective due to the fact that they targeted the incorrect assemblage part, contained short-lived numbing medications but nary steroids, and appeared to beryllium based connected trial shots fixed to cadavers — radical who felt neither symptom nor alleviation due to the fact that they were dead. During closing arguments, the DOJ argued Pain MD had turned immoderate patients into "human pin cushions."
"They were leaned implicit a array and repeatedly injected successful their spine," national authoritative Katherine Payerle said during the May 14 sentencing hearing. "Over and over, period aft month, astatine the absorption of Mr. Kestner."
At past year's trial, witnesses testified that Kestner was the driving unit down the injections, which amounted to astir 700,000 shots implicit astir 8 years, with immoderate patients receiving up to 24 astatine once.
Four erstwhile patients testified that they tolerated the shots retired of fearfulness that Pain MD different would person chopped disconnected their painkiller prescriptions, without which they mightiness person spiraled into withdrawal.
One of those patients, Michelle Shaw, told KFF Health News that the injections sometimes near her successful truthful overmuch symptom she had to usage a wheelchair. She was outraged by Kestner's sentence.
"I'm disgusted that each they got was a slap connected the wrist arsenic acold arsenic I'm concerned," Shaw said May 14. "I anticipation karma comes backmost to him. That helium suffers to his past breath."
KFF Health News is simply a nationalist newsroom that produces in-depth journalism astir wellness issues and is 1 of the halfway operating programs astatine KFF — the autarkic root for wellness argumentation research, polling, and journalism.
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