Michael Taba, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, was sentenced to 102 months in prison and forced to pay more than $13 million in restitution for his role in a $145 million plan to defraud the Department of Labor, the Justice Department announced on February 24.
The Justice Department alleges that Dr. Taba, 61, took payments and kickbacks from pharmacy owners between May 2014 and March 2017 to administer compound creams to injured federal workers that were not medically necessary. Dr. Taba’s co-defendants owned and operated three pharmacies in Texas, paying him and other physicians millions.
During the course of the plan, pharmacists billed the DOL-OWCP and Blue Cross Blue Shield more than $145 million and received more than $90 million for unnecessary prescriptions.
Dr. Taba was previously found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud in November 2023.
