Sady Ribeiro, M.D., a New York-based pain management doctor and surgeon, has pled guilty for his role in a $31 million trip-and-fall scheme.
NY Surgeon Pleads Guilty in Trip-and-Fall Scheme
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The fraud scheme involved staged trip-and-fall accidents and fraudulent lawsuits related to the staged trip-and-fall accidents. According to court documents, those involved in the fraud scheme allegedly recruited “patients” to participate in the staged accidents or to falsely claim they were involved in a trip-and-fall accident. According to the Department of Justice, the alleged patients were vulnerable members of the public including people who were extremely poor, homeless, and/or drug addicts.
The patients were also told to “receive ongoing chiropractic and medical treatment” from certain physicians including Dr. Ribeiro. They were purportedly advised that they would have to undergo surgery in order to continue with the fraudulent lawsuits. According to the Department of Justice, Dr. Ribeiro and other doctors in the fraud scheme “were expected to, and in fact did, conduct these surgeries regardless of the legitimate medical needs of the patients.” Dr. Ribeiro “performed back surgeries, among other medical procedures, on nearly 200 patients.”
Dr. Ribeiro pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the Department of Justice, this plea is “in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent insurance reimbursements and other compensation from fraudulent trip-and-fall accidents.” As part of his plea agreement, Dr. Ribeiro agreed to forfeit $513,005 to the United States. He also agreed to make restitution in the amount of $3,928,133.
Dr. Ribeiro’s sentencing is scheduled for January 5, 2023. Conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud also carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
For OTW’s original coverage of this matter, see “Indictment Charges Ortho and Pain Docs in Trip-and-Fall Scheme.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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