RI physician's assistant sentenced for kickbacks
BOSTON—A Rhode Island physician's assistant has been sentenced to six months in prison and six months home confinement for taking kickbacks from a medical device company.
Forty-two-year-old Michael Cobb of Wakefield, R.I., was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston. He was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and forfeit $10,000. He pleaded guilty in April.
Prosecutors said he received about $120,000 between 2004 and 2011 from Orthofix, Inc., to order its bone growth stimulator. Prosecutors said the neurosurgeon Cobb worked for didn't specify a brand for the device orders, and wasn't aware of the scheme.
Prosecutors said Cobb steered more than $1 million in insurance reimbursements to the company, including about $350,000 in federal funds.
Rhode Island health officials have suspended his license for six months and ordered him to complete a medical ethics program.
