A U.S. doctor is headed to federal prison for insurance fraud after accepting kickbacks of at least $2.3 million, a report from NBC affiliate WJAC said.

John H. Johnson, 55, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2.3 million to the Department of Health and Human Services and $722,476.55 to the Internal Revenue Service.

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The Pennsylvania doctor pleaded guilty last month to accepting kickbacks as part of a scam orchestrated by medical laboratory Universal Oral Fluid Labs (UOFS), WJAC reported. Johnson, who owned a string of pain-management clinics throughout Western Pennsylvania, accepted millions in kickbacks for referring patients – including Medicare and Medicaid patients – to UOFL for drug testing and screening.

According to prosecutors, UOFL, in turn, made millions from third-party payers because of Johnson’s referrals. The lab made about $3.4 million from Medicare and $1.1 million from Medicaid, WJAC reported.


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