Howard Hoffberg, Accepting Kick-Backs, Maryland 2023

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Baltimore Doctor Sentenced to 8 Months in Federal Prison for Accepting Kick-Backs

Baltimore, Maryland – In a shocking case of corruption, Howard Hoffberg, a 65-year-old doctor from Reisterstown, Maryland, was sentenced to 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statutes.

According to the guilty plea, Hoffberg, a licensed physician and part-owner of Rosen-Hoffberg Rehabilitation and Pain Management, solicited and received kickbacks and bribes from Insys Therapeutics, Inc. (a pharmaceutical company) in exchange for prescribing a fentanyl-based drug, Subsys.

The scheme, which began in June 2012, involved Hoffberg admitting to receiving payments from Insys under the guise of ‘honoraria’ for purportedly providing educational programs about Subsys. These presentations, however, were a sham and took place at high-end restaurants, often to staff and individuals who couldn’t prescribe controlled substances.

Hoffberg’s participation in the Speakers Bureau Program was a ruse to conceal and disguise the kickbacks and bribes he received from Insys. The payments were falsely designated as ‘honoraria’ to promote educational initiatives about Subsys.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Insys’s application to sell and market Subsys in January 2012. However, due to the limited number of cancer patients experiencing breakthrough pain who fit the FDA-approved criteria, Insys devised an illegal kickback and bribery scheme to induce Hoffberg and others to prescribe Subsys off-label for conditions other than breakthrough pain in cancer patients.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.

Howard Hoffberg, a Medicare provider, submitted claims to Medicare and certified that he would comply with Medicare rules and regulations, including refraining from violating the federal anti-kickback statute.

Hoffberg’s sentence includes 8 months in federal prison, followed by 1 year of supervised release.