A Kansas City doctor has admitted to accepting significant kickbacks in exchange for ordering unnecessary health care services. On Friday, Dr. Scott Taggart Roethle, aged 47, pleaded guilty to health care fraud in the U.S. District Court in St. Louis. He confessed to a scheme spanning from 2017 to 2020, involving collaboration with health care companies to prescribe unnecessary medical equipment, pain creams, and genetic tests for numerous patients. This scheme earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.
Dr. Roethle, who was operating as a telemedicine doctor, accessed patient information through electronic portals and issued orders without conducting patient evaluations. He did not establish doctor-patient relationships with those he prescribed services to and provided no follow-up care. For each order, he typically received $30. In total, Dr. Roethle received $674,000 from five companies. His fraudulent activities led to Medicare dispensing at least $1.5 million based on his orders. Prosecutors suggest total losses from the fraud could range between $7 million and $9.5 million.
Licensed in 22 states, Dr. Roethle worked mainly as an anesthesiologist during his engagement in these activities. His trial, initially scheduled for the upcoming Monday, will no longer take place with his plea. Sentencing is slated for July 17.
The investigation into Dr. Roethle's actions was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Wiseman and Justin Ladendorf are handling the prosecution.
