U.S. v. Moshiri

Record contained sufficient evidence to support defendant-physician’s conviction on charge that defendant violated Anti-Kickback Statute (42 USC section 1320a-7b(b)) by receiving illegal remuneration in exchange for referring patient to specific hospital. Record showed that defendant: (1) had signed teaching contract with said hospital in which he had essentially received $2,000 per month without performing majority of services called for in contract, while defendant had referred patients to said hospital; and (2) had admitted that teaching contract turned into payment for said referral of his patients. Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that his teaching contract fell within safe harbor provisions of Ant-Kickback Statute, since there was evidence that arrangement between defendant and hospital took into account volume or value of defendant’s referrals. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in admitting testimony of govt. expert, who stated that yearly teaching stipends typically ranged between $400 to $2,000, since record showed that said expert had extensive experience in relevant podiatry field, which was sufficient to allow admission of his opinions, even in absence of any empirical data.