Terrence Kyle Tackett, Healthcare Kickbacks, Massachusetts 2016

A healthcare sales representative was sentenced for obstructing a federal investigation into kickbacks paid to medical professionals in Massachusetts.

Terrence Kyle Tackett, 50, of Florence, Kentucky, was sentenced to three years of probation, with the first six months in community confinement and then six months on home detention, for obstructing the investigation. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service during the last two years of probation and pay a fine of $15,000.

Tackett pleaded guilty in May 2016 to one count of obstruction of a criminal investigation of health care offenses. He was a sales representative for multiple healthcare companies, including Cardio Dx, a California-based company, and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company.

From 2012 to 2013, Tackett worked as a sales representative in Kentucky for Cardio Dx, and from August 2013 to February 2015, he worked for Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. During this time, he gave medical professionals gift cards and personal checks in exchange for ordering or prescribing the products he promoted and to gain access to private patient information protected by HIPAA.

However, in a January 2015 meeting with investigators, Tackett falsely denied and attempted to conceal the kickbacks he had been paying to physicians and their staffs for years in Kentucky and southern Ohio.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kriss Basil and Young Paik prosecuted the case with assistance from the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch. The case was announced by Acting United States Attorney William Weinreb, Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and other officials.

The case highlights the importance of holding individuals accountable for obstructing federal investigations and engaging in corrupt practices in the healthcare industry.

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